White Deer Township, PA – Two Children Among Five Injured in I-80 Truck Crash

Rachel Olszewski

White Deer Township, PA (July 27, 2026) – A tractor-trailer struck several vehicles stopped in an Interstate 80 construction zone, injuring five people. Pennsylvania State Police said the truck driver was traveling too fast for conditions.

The crash happened at about 4:30 p.m. on July 27 in the westbound lanes of I-80. Police placed it near mile marker 202 in White Deer Township, Union County.

Police said Jose Jimenez, 51, of the Bronx, New York, was driving a 2022 Volvo tractor-trailer. Investigators said he failed to notice several vehicles that were stopped in the construction zone. The truck struck the rear of two parked vehicles, according to police.

The impact sent the tractor-trailer into the left lane, where it struck a third parked vehicle. The trailer then jackknifed. One of the vehicles that was hit was pushed into two additional parked vehicles.

Police said one vehicle overturned into the center median after being struck, and the trailer landed on top of it. The tractor-trailer came to rest in the center median. The other vehicles stopped along the roadway and the median.

Donald McCloskey, 50, of Delmont, was injured, along with his passengers Heather McCloskey, 44, a 17-year-old boy and a 9-year-old boy. Donald McCloskey and the two children were flown by Life Flight to Geisinger. Heather McCloskey was treated at the scene by White Deer Township Volunteer Fire Department personnel.

Jennifer Sanchez, 42, of Hawthorne, New Jersey, suffered a suspected minor injury but was not transported. The other drivers involved, including Jimenez, were not injured. Two passengers in another vehicle were also uninjured, police said.

Semi-Truck Accidents in Pennsylvania, PA

A loaded tractor-trailer needs roughly two football fields to stop at highway speed. That is why rear-end truck crashes in stopped traffic injure everyone except the truck driver.

Liability rarely stops with the driver:

• The driver, for speed and following distance
• The motor carrier, for dispatch schedules, hiring, and hours-of-service compliance under 49 CFR Part 395
• The maintenance provider, for brake and inspection failures under 49 CFR Part 396
• The contractor responsible for work zone traffic control and advance queue warning

The evidence expires fast. The engine control module records speed and braking in the seconds before impact. The electronic logging device shows hours worked that week. Dashcam footage is overwritten on a fixed cycle, and the tractor can be repaired or sold before anyone inspects it.

A traffic citation resolves the driver’s obligation to the Commonwealth. It does not resolve the carrier’s civil liability.

Pennsylvania gives injured people two years to file (42 Pa.C.S. § 5524), a July 27, 2028 deadline here. Injured minors generally have until two years after turning 18 (42 Pa.C.S. § 5533). If a government unit shares responsibility for the work zone, written notice is due within six months (42 Pa.C.S. § 5522), a January 27, 2027 deadline that ends the claim if missed.

Passengers and other drivers in a chain reaction usually have their own claims. Pennsylvania bars recovery only above 50 percent fault (42 Pa.C.S. § 7102). A Pennsylvania motor vehicle accident lawyer can identify every available policy before the insurer makes an offer.

At Scartelli Olszewski, our Scranton personal injury attorneys have litigated against interstate motor carriers for over two decades, including a $2,200,000 tractor-trailer settlement and a $300,000 punitive verdict in a separate trucking crash.

Carriers are not required to preserve engine data or driver logs indefinitely, and their investigators are working the file within days.

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