A 29-year-old Lock Haven-area man was killed early Monday after he stopped to help another driver following a crash on Interstate 80 in Montour County, only to be struck himself when a second tractor-trailer left the roadway. Logan Rickert was pronounced dead at the scene between mile markers 224 and 225 eastbound in Valley Township.
According to Newsradio 1070 WKOK, Rickert stopped around 6 a.m. after a pickup truck was struck by a tractor-trailer that did not stop, then exited his own vehicle to assist the other motorist. As reported by Fox56, the pickup had been pushed partially off the road in that initial collision, and the crash happened around 5:54 a.m. between mile markers 224 and 225 eastbound in Valley Township.
While Rickert was helping the stranded driver, a second tractor-trailer left the roadway for a reason that has not been determined and struck him, the station's report states. Montour County Coroner Scott Lynn identified the victim as Rickert, of the Lock Haven area, per the coroner. Pennsylvania State Police at Milton and the coroner's office are investigating Rickert's death, and an autopsy is pending.
Highway Shut Down for Hours
One person was struck by a vehicle after stopping to respond to a crash along Interstate 80 before 6 a.m., according to the Daily Item. The road was closed for more than six hours before both eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 reopened in Montour County following the early-morning accident, the paper reported.
It also remains unclear whether any driver has been cited, charged, or found at fault in either collision.
A Highway With a History of Danger for Stopped Drivers
Rickert's death adds to a pattern of fatal incidents involving people struck while stopped along Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. In the Poconos, a 51-year-old Warren County man was reportedly struck and killed on the highway's shoulder in Pocono Township after a speeding truck swerved off the roadway, according to lehighvalleylive.com. In Mercer County, a truck driver involved in a separate fatal Interstate 80 crash was cited by Pennsylvania State Police, per WFMJ.
No further details on Rickert's death have been released as the investigation continues. Pennsylvania State Police at Milton and the Montour County Coroner's Office have not announced findings from the pending autopsy.
