A car crashed into a wooded area near the intersection of Bunola River and Elkhorn roads in Forward Township early Sunday, trapping one occupant inside while another managed to climb out on their own. Crews were called to the scene at 7:13 a.m., and medics ultimately took the rescued person to the hospital.
The Gallatin Sunnyside Volunteer Fire Department reported in a social media post that crews were dispatched to the crash at the Bunola River and Elkhorn roads intersection, according to WPXI. One person exited the vehicle without assistance, while crews had to extricate a second occupant from inside the car before medics transported that person to the hospital. Elizabeth Township Police are investigating the crash, according to the Elizabeth Borough Volunteer Fire Co.
The involvement of Elizabeth Township Police in a Forward Township crash traces back to a 2022 decision by Forward Township supervisors, who voted to disband their own police department and contract with neighboring Elizabeth Township for continuous 24-hour coverage amid staffing challenges, as reported by WPXI at the time. That arrangement explains why an outside municipal department is handling the investigation rather than a Forward Township force.
Road Closed as Crash Snarled Morning Traffic
Bunola River Road was closed between Elkhorn Road and Keer Street following the crash, according to traffic updates published by Savvy Citizen. The closure disrupted a key stretch of the corridor during the Sunday morning commute as investigators worked the scene.
Bunola River Road is designated by PennDOT as State Route 2001, running parallel to the Monongahela River through Forward Township as a state-maintained roadway under the agency's District 11. The corridor between River Hill Road and Elkhorn Road has a long history of instability, having required PennDOT slide-remediation projects following major landslides in May 2017, July 2023, and April 2024.
A Road With a Troubled History
Sunday's crash is not an isolated incident along this stretch. In September 2020, a single-vehicle rollover near Oliver Drive in Forward Township left two people dead after a car crossed the center line and traveled up a hillside, with county police at the time identifying speed and challenging roadway terrain as contributing factors, per CBS Pittsburgh. Just last October, the Gallatin Sunnyside Volunteer Fire Department also responded to a rollover crash with driver entrapment along Bunola River Road, requiring crews to extricate a trapped driver for emergency transport, according to the Mon Valley Independent.
Gallatin Sunnyside operates as Allegheny County Station 154, providing primary volunteer fire and rescue services to Forward Township from its headquarters on Rainbow Run Road in Monongahela, per Station Boss. Rural municipalities in this part of eastern Allegheny County lean heavily on volunteer departments and mutual aid agreements to cover emergencies like Sunday's crash.
Crash Comes Amid Regional Push on Traffic Safety
The crash arrives as regional agencies work through the Allegheny County Vision Zero Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, a multi-jurisdictional initiative launched in July involving PennDOT and local municipalities aimed at reducing severe crashes and eliminating traffic fatalities, according to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. The plan specifically targets high-injury corridors and dangerous rural roadways across the county for safety improvements.
Statewide, PennDOT data released this year showed traffic fatalities across Pennsylvania fell to 1,047 in 2025, the lowest level since record-keeping began in 1928, even as aggressive driving fatalities climbed 31% since 2020, according to CBS News. Closer to home, Allegheny County recorded 10,218 total motor vehicle crashes and 73 traffic fatalities in 2024, continuing a downward trend from a 20-year peak of 12,908 crashes in 2016, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The cause of Sunday's crash has not been determined, and it remains unclear whether speed, impairment, or the road's terrain played a role in the vehicle leaving the roadway. The current medical condition of the person taken to the hospital has also not been released.
