A Latrobe Municipal Authority worker was in critical condition after a car rear-ended the riding lawn mower he was operating on Route 217 in Derry Township on Tuesday afternoon, according to authorities. The driver, identified as Teryn Nuttall, was hospitalized in stable condition following the crash, which happened around 2:20 p.m.
The worker, Derrick Steininger, was riding the mower in the road while moving between patches of grass owned by the Latrobe Municipal Authority when Nuttall's white Chevy Cobalt struck the back of the machine, according to CBS News. Nuttall had turned off U.S. Route 30 and was headed north on Route 217 at the time of the collision, per the same report. Pennsylvania State Police said Nuttall may have tried to get around Steininger before the crash, and troopers said the collision could have been avoided.
Both vehicles took a hard hit. Nuttall's car had deployed airbags, and both Nuttall and Steininger were knocked unconscious in the collision, the outlet reported. Steininger was flown to UPMC Presbyterian in critical condition, while Nuttall was taken to Latrobe Hospital in stable condition — an account corroborated by mutual aid EMS crews at the scene. Latrobe Bulletin News similarly reported that two drivers, including the municipal authority employee, were hospitalized after the crash on state Route 217.
Authority Manager Calls Crash Gut-Wrenching
Terri Hauser, manager of the Latrobe Municipal Authority, described the crash as gut-wrenching. She said tests on Steininger were showing favorable results and expressed hope that he would return to work soon, the station's report noted.
Despite his injuries, Steininger managed to call his supervisor from the hospital, telling her he would be back to work soon, per the same account. In response to the crash, the Latrobe Municipal Authority agreed to trailer all of its mowers going forward, a change officials say is meant to prevent similar incidents.
Mowing Crews Face Unpredictable Roadside Hazards
Roadside mowing work creates unique hazards for both workers and drivers, since traffic control measures can vary depending on the road, municipality, roadside conditions and equipment involved, according to PennDOT LTAP. Slow-moving equipment on public roads often travels well below highway speeds, and motorists may not be accustomed to the extra braking time needed to avoid a rear-end collision, according to Penn State Extension, which notes that tractors and farming implements typically travel at less than 25 mph.
Similar crashes have occurred elsewhere. In rural Clay County, Missouri, an 82-year-old Liberty man died when the riding lawn mower he was on was struck by a southbound car, according to The Kansas City Star. That outlet reported the vehicle struck the rear of the mower after it entered the roadway, and separately reported that a 27-year-old worker was critically injured earlier that year when a vehicle ran off the road and struck him while he was mowing at a church in Fairway.
The Pennsylvania Crash Information Tool serves as the state's public gateway to crash statistics, though no verified count of mower-related collisions specific to Derry Township or Westmoreland County was available in connection with this incident.
