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Six people were injured when a vehicle traveling north collided with a southbound vehicle in the 3600 block of Route 15 in Clinton Township just after 2 p.m. Saturday.
The accident occurred when the northbound vehicle, traveling at a high rate of speed in the left turn lane in front of Williamsport Electric, swerved into the oncoming lane, causing the crash, Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Chief Todd Winder told the Sun-Gazette.
Tire marks tracked the path of the offending car to the point of impact, and the collision was captured on dashboard video from a vehicle traveling behind the southbound car, Winder said.
"It looks like they tried to react, but they didn't have a chance to get out of the way. There's no room to get out of the way up there," he added.
An adult and two young children riding in the northbound lane were injured in the crash, as well as three young adults, who were headed to a wedding in the southbound vehicle.
The older child sustained significant injuries, and was initially transported to UPMC Williamsport for stabilization before being airlifted to Geisinger Danville, Winder said.
"There was a large piece of engine equipment, like a cylinder head off of a car, in the back seat that we believe struck the one child," the chief said.
"The boy is going to have a long recovery. I can tell you that because he had significant injuries to his head," he added.
"There was another young child in that car that had an arm injury, and then all three people in the other car had from minor to moderate injuries," Winder said, adding that one of the occupants may have required surgery.
The chaos of the moment was increased by well-meaning bystanders who removed the crash victims from their vehicles, a move Winder said should only be done by trained medical staff.
"In their conditions, they really risked adding significantly to their injuries, up to and including death," Winder said, adding that the driver's leg was broken in two spots.
"I get it, the child was bleeding a lot, but they took him far away from the car, so if he had neck and back or spinal injuries, they risked paralysis or death," he said.
"I didn't even know I had the sixth patient because they moved the one little kid, probably two to 300 feet away and put him in another car and someone was sitting talking with him, and it wasn't until I thought I had everything under control that somebody said 'hey, there's another little kid up here,'" the chief of 27 years said.
"They were worried the car was going to explode, but there was really no reason to move them. They could have stayed at the car with them," Winder said.
"But I get it, people see this stuff on TV, and you know they think, 'we gotta do this because the car blows up the minute they get out," the chief said, adding there is always smoke following a collision due to the presence of antifreeze, and inflated airbags putting off some smoke.
"If there's an immediate risk that the car is on fire, then they should do what they have to because in that case you're risking paralysis versus burning up in a fire," Winder said.
"I can understand and appreciate why they did it, but honestly, if you're untrained, it's best to leave it to the trained responders," Winder, who has been with the department for 40 years, said.
"Just stay with the person, support their head and neck where they are and make sure that they're breathing," he said.
Unfortunately, accidents along this stretch are no isolated incidents despite the presence of a raised line divider and flexible delineator posts, though luckily none have been this devastating, Winder said.
"We've had probably seven or eight crashes since they've done that. The other ones were glancing head-ons and nobody was seriously hurt," he said.
"That's a left turning lane to get into the stockpile and to Williamsport Electric, people use it to get around slow moving traffic," Winder said.
"I see people whip through there all the time since they build it, motorcycles, cars and pickups alike, and especially when there's tractor trailers crawling," he said, stressing that the area is strictly one lane.
A PennDOT sign meant to alert northbound drivers of the proper lane usage was not functioning properly as of press time.
"People on Facebook were saying it was probably because of Little League, and maybe they didn't know. Well, this guy was from, I think, South Williamsport, so he probably should have known, and he probably should have had the piece of engine in his trunk and not in the back seat with his kids," Winder said, noting that due to them being removed from the vehicle, it is unknown where the children were situated or if anyone in the vehicle was buckled.
Traffic was shut down in the area for roughly two to three hours as crews worked to clear the scene.
An update on the conditions of those in either vehicle was not immediately available.