A crash on Route 31 at Veterans Way in Donegal Township sent three people to hospitals Friday morning, with at least two of them airlifted by helicopter from the scene. The wreck happened around 9:20 a.m. and left one vehicle resting on its roof while another had its own roof peeled back, according to officials.
Dispatchers told WTAE that three people were injured in the crash and transported to hospitals, with officials using two helicopters to fly at least two of them from the scene. The vehicles involved sustained heavy damage, and officials have not released the condition of those hurt. Route 31 was closed in the area while first responders investigated and cleared the scene, per the same report.
A Corridor Known for Rough Wrecks
Route 31 in Donegal Township is more than just a rural road — it's the primary link between Pennsylvania Turnpike Exit 91 and Laurel Highlands destinations like Seven Springs and Hidden Valley, according to local context reported by TribLIVE.com. That role funnels heavy seasonal tourist traffic and commercial vehicles through a stretch of highway that has seen its share of severe crashes over the years.
The corridor's crash history includes a June 2026 motorhome rollover near Route 381 that hospitalized two people, as well as a February 2022 three-truck collision that shut the road down for hours, TribLIVE.com has reported. Air ambulance transport, like the helicopters used Friday, is a routine part of responding to serious crashes in rural Westmoreland County, where providers such as STAT MedEvac fly trauma patients to specialized trauma centers in the Pittsburgh metro area, per background compiled from Wikipedia.
Federal Money and State Maintenance on the Books
The federal government has already put money toward improving this stretch of highway. In 2021, the Federal Highway Administration awarded PennDOT a $448,757 grant for road widening and infrastructure work on Route 31 between the Turnpike ramps and Route 711 in Donegal Township, according to GovTribe records. More recently, PennDOT District 12 carried out targeted maintenance on the road in 2025, including edge paving and shoulder stabilization work, per the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The corridor has also seen other emergency activity this month — on August 20, Donegal Township responders battled a commercial building fire near the turnpike interchange along the same highway that caused a partial roof collapse, TribLIVE.com reported.
Wider Safety Trends in Westmoreland County
Crashes tied to aggressive driving remain a stubborn problem across the county. PennDOT recorded 1,507 crashes and six fatalities linked to aggressive driving in Westmoreland County in 2024 alone, a trend that has kept state and local police running joint enforcement waves, according to data shared on Facebook. Intersection crashes have also been climbing statewide, with intersection fatalities in Pennsylvania rising to 321 in 2024 from 301 the year before, per the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
That said, the broader trend line is more encouraging: statewide traffic fatalities in Pennsylvania dropped in 2025 compared to 2024, marking one of the lowest annual totals since the state began keeping records in 1928, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania reports. Major crashes on Route 31 fall under the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania State Police Troop A, which coordinates crash reconstruction and traffic detours alongside Westmoreland County 911 dispatchers, according to a report from CBS News. No further details on the cause of Friday's crash, the identities of those injured, or their conditions have been released.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)
