Nancy Duva dies in fatal Hempfield crash
Fatal Hempfield crash death of Nancy Duva – Obituary
An 83-year-old woman from Greensburg, identified as Nancy Duva, was involved in a deadly accident on Route 30 in Hempfield on Wednesday. Authorities stated Duva was driving west in the eastbound lanes of the divided highway in her Subaru Crosstrek when she collided with two other vehicles near the Cedar Street exit around 5:15 p.m.
The crash involved Duva’s vehicle and a Dodge Ram driven by Jace Bartsch, 20, from Wheeling, W.Va., and a Hyundai Elantra operated by Kassidy Warfel, 27, from Latrobe. Both Bartsch and Warfel were traveling eastbound when the accident occurred. Duva and Bartsch were transported to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, with their current conditions unclear. Warfel declined medical treatment.
Trooper Steve Limani of the state police mentioned that visibility in this part of Route 30 is limited, particularly with the high speed of eastbound traffic. He added that when a vehicle is traveling against traffic at the same speed, the ability for drivers to react is nearly nonexistent, creating a highly dangerous situation.
The crash forced a closure of the highway for about four hours while state police reconstructed the scene. Approximately 37,000 vehicles typically pass through that stretch of Route 30 daily. Detours were set up using Route 119 and several nearby streets.
A video shared on social media captured the moment of the crash, showing a wrong-way vehicle striking a pickup truck while other drivers narrowly avoided the collision. The front-end damage to the vehicles was evident in footage shared by Trib news partner WTAE.
In light of rising concerns about wrong-way crashes, which have led to fatalities, safety organizations like AAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have raised alarms. Between 2015 and 2018, 2,008 deaths occurred on divided highways due to wrong-way collisions, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
This incident follows several similar accidents, including one earlier this month in Pittsburgh, where a driver going the wrong way caused a head-on crash, resulting in two fatalities. Additionally, a Scottdale woman was charged with homicide by vehicle last year after a wrong-way crash on Interstate 70.
