A trucker from Lehigh County trucker died Monday morning after losing control of his rig near Brandonville, according to police.
The crash has some calling for safety improvements on the road.
Officials said it is common place on Route 924 near Shenandoah. Trucks about to start their decent from the mountain into Brandonville.
A trucker from Whitehall who was hauling a load of pipe got to the bottom Monday and crashed at a turn.
"It was horrible, very horrible," said Heather Yotko of Shenandoah. She was behind the rig and saw it all happen. "I seen smoke coming from his tires then the next thing I knew there was a big pile of smoke and then he was coming up on his turn on the passenger side of the truck and he lost it on the turn. Pipe went flying. Hopefully the pipe wasn't coming my way because it was going everywhere."
Fire officials said it could have been worse and it's a good thing the trucker crashed where he did because there was the potential he could have run into some of the homes or buildings nearby.
Officials said there a single sign at the top of the mountain near Brandonville warning truckers of the steepness of the road. That has some calling for more signs.
"Out-of-state drivers they don't know this area they are not used the a mountains, especially if they're from the south. They don't know the mountains. This turn it just comes from out of nowhere," said Amber Long of Mahanoy City.
"As far as I know this is the second tractor-trailer rollover accident with a fatal. We've had many, many over the years that crash here at the firehouse," said Brandonville Fire Chief Tony Kankowski.
PennDOT officials said they need a formal request before they will study the need for more trucker warning signs. No one is sure if additional signs would have prevented the latest fatal crash at the bottom of the mountain.
