An 82-year-old man died at the scene and his 89-year-old wife survived just over a week before succumbing to her injuries, after their car struck a rock curb, went airborne, and sank into a retention pond at Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos. Jeanette Radzikowski, 89, of Dickson City, was pronounced dead at 11:25 a.m. on August 7 at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Muhlenberg in Allentown, nine days after the crash that also killed her husband, John Radzikowski Jr., 82.
According to Daily Voice, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office and Forensic Center ruled Jeanette Radzikowski’s death accidental, attributing it to complications of blunt force injuries. She had been riding as a passenger in the vehicle that left the roadway at 312 Woodland Road in Paradise Township, the address of Mount Airy Casino Resort, at approximately 3:47 p.m. on July 29.
Pennsylvania State Police told WNEP that the vehicle struck a small rock curb on the casino property, went airborne over an embankment, and plunged into a retention pond, where it sank. John Radzikowski Jr., who was driving, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Monroe County Coroner’s Office shortly after 6 p.m. that day, according to WVIA.
Rescue From a Sinking Car
Emergency responders pulled Jeanette Radzikowski from the passenger seat of the submerged vehicle while she was still alive, per the Daily Voice report, and rushed her to Lehigh Valley Hospital–Muhlenberg for treatment. She held on for nine days before authorities announced her death this week, closing out a crash that claimed both occupants of the car. The retention pond sits on the resort grounds directly across from the casino at 312 Woodland Road, according to the Times News.
The investigation has been split between multiple agencies. The Pennsylvania State Police Stroudsburg Station and the Monroe County Coroner handled the initial scene on July 29, while the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office and Forensic Center, overseen by Coroner Daniel A. Buglio, took jurisdiction over Jeanette Radzikowski’s death once she was transferred to the Allentown hospital, the same Daily Voice report notes.
A Historic Property Turned Casino Resort
Mount Airy Casino Resort opened in Paradise Township in October 2007 on the former grounds of the historic Mount Airy Lodge, a Pocono Mountains hotel built in the 1890s that was demolished in the mid-2000s, according to reporting by The Philadelphia Inquirer. The resort has operated on the site for nearly two decades, and the retention pond where the crash occurred sits on that same property.
Older Drivers and Pennsylvania's Licensing Rules
The deaths arrive amid broader questions about senior driving safety across the state and country. Pennsylvania allows drivers 65 and older to opt into a shortened two-year license renewal period instead of the standard four years, though the state does not require mandatory driving re-tests based strictly on age, per guidance published by MB Law Firm. Separately, Pennsylvania's Medical Reporting Law requires healthcare personnel to report to PennDOT any licensed driver over age 15 who is diagnosed with a physical or cognitive condition that could impair safe driving, according to legal analysis from SZ Law.
Nationally, traffic fatalities involving adults 65 and older reached 7,894 in 2024, a 0.9% increase from 7,826 deaths the previous year, based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data cited by the Governors Highway Safety Association. Research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that while drivers 70 and older log fewer annual miles than younger age groups, fatal crash rates per mile traveled begin climbing around age 70 and reach their highest levels among drivers 85 and older.
No further details about what led the vehicle to strike the curb before going airborne have been released. The investigation into the crash remains open with the agencies involved.
