Deer wrecks two vehicles in separate incidents on I-81
By Kaylee Lindenmuth | [email protected]
FRAILEY TOWNSHIP – Two vehicles suffered significant damage in two separate incidents within a few miles of each other on Interstate 81 between the Route 901 and Route 25 interchanges Tuesday.
According to State Police at Frackville, the first occurred around 6:00am at mile marker 111.4 in the southbound lanes of I-81 in Frailey Township.
A Frackville couple in their 50s — Joseph Evans, 56, and Catherine Evans, 55 — was travelling southbound in a Toyota Rav4 when a deer leapt from adjacent woodlands into their path.
The driver, Joseph Evans, attempted to stop the car and swerved into the left lane to avoid the deer, which continued into said lane. The front right corner of the Rav4 struck the deer, and dealt damage to the right side of the SUV.
The Evans couple was securely seatbelted and unharmed. Troopers said multiple airbags deployed, and the vehicle was towed.
Tuesday evening, another vehicle was damaged after striking a deer carcass in the southbound lanes around mile marker 115 in Foster Township.
That crash occurred around 6:00pm when an elderly Canadian pair — 74-year-old Gaetan Lauzon and 65-year-old Lucie Landry, both of Saint-Eustache, Quebec — were travelling southbound in a 2009 Hyundai Genesis.
The driver, Lauzon, told troopers a dead deer was in his lane of travel, which he struck. He attempted to continue on until the vehicle began to overheat, at which point he exited the interstate at Route 25 and stopped.
Both were seatbelted and uninjured in the accident.
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