Montgomery County Officials Declare County A Natural Disaster Area

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County officials issued a disaster declaration Wednesday in the wake of Tuesday night’s ice storm that intensified Wednesday morning. By 9:30 p.m., Governor Corbett signed a disaster emergency proclamation. Corbett explained through his Twitter account that the proclamation will assist state and local authorities in responding to the winter storm.

The county’s disaster declaration means that if needed, the county can receive funds from the federal government and the state government. Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro said the declaration of a disaster also allows for the county to bypass the RFP process for items, like blankets, to give to shelters. He said the disaster declaration does not allow the county to purchase more road salt.

He said the county roads are cleared for the most part and crews are on standby to salt the roads as melting snow and ice freezes into the night.

According to Montgomery County Director of Communications Frank Custer, between 4 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday there were 340 electrical fires reported throughout the county, 1,207 road obstructions and 164 vehicle accidents.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140205/montgomery-county-officials-declare-county-a-natural-disaster-area

Snowstorm Leads To Closures, Traffic Accidents Throughout Berks

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

That darn groundhog.

Within 24 hours of forecasting six more weeks of winter, large dense snowflakes began falling in Berks County early Monday, and the storm continued to drop about an inch an hour before tapering off to flurries about 2:30 p.m.

Blame Phil if you were stuck in traffic behind one of the numerous crashes that occurred through the day or lost power from outages, but remember he wasn’t the only messenger.

Forecasters at AccuWeather, near State college, predicted this storm would bring wet, heavy snow that would affect the morning commute, and did it ever. By 11 a.m., with temperatures hovering around 32 degrees, at least a half a foot of snow had fallen in Berks County.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/news/article/snowstorm-leads-to-closures-traffic-accidents-throughout-berks#.UvA5BvRDsxI

Snow Causes Accidents, School Cancellations

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(UPDATED 10:45 a.m.) An Atlantic Clipper snowstorm traveling across the East Coast Tuesday could drop up to 9 inches of snow in some areas, causing some schools to close and others to institute early dismissal.

Boyertown, Daniel Boone, Owen J. Roberts and the Spring-Ford School District all cancelled classes and all afterschool activities.

Pottstown, Phoenixville, Upper Perkiomen, and the Pottsgrove school districts were all dismissing students early as the snowstorm was expected to worsen in the afternoon.

Collegeville, East Greenville, Spring City Borough, Lower Pottsgrove, and Upper Pottsgrove townships declared snow emergencies Tuesday morning. The snow emergency in Spring City was declared for 9 a.m. and will be in place until noon Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140121/updated-snow-causes-accidents-school-cancellations

Car Slams Into Sinking Spring Restaurant; Several Hurt

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Reading woman drove her car through the side of a Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Sinking Spring on Thursday night, showering patrons with glass and forcing them to scramble to safety.

At least one person was taken to a hospital.

The driver, Marcia Conver, 76, was with her granddaughter and two great granddaughters about 6:50 p.m. when the car went through the side of the restaurant in the 3500 block of Penn Avenue.

“We were just parking, and I hit the gas instead of the brake, and it was that fast that I couldn’t help it. I just feel so bad,” she said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=515554

Upgrades Reduced Route 100 Crashes, Study Finds

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Chester County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a $1.5 million investment for safety-related improvements, crashes along Route 100 in northern Chester County were reduced by 30 percent between 2007 and 2011, an analysis by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission found.

Improvements along the 8-mile stretch of road from the Pottstown area to Font Road in Upper Uwchlan included surface treatment, tree management to help the roads dry faster, additional signage and speed enforcement.

The commission examined the road after 10 fatal crashes between 2003 and 2006 and recommended several short-term safety improvements.  Since the improvements have been implemented, the number of fatal crashes dropped to three from 2007 to 2011, and none were reported in 2012, according to Regina Moore, a transportation engineer with the commission.

“A lot of the credit goes to (the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation), since they were the implementors of the safety improvements, which helped to reduce crashes along the corridor,” said Moore. “We couldn’t have reached this point if it weren’t for the stakeholders (state legislators and municipalities) caring to see that something got done to improve safety on (Route) 100 and being supportive of working with us in helping to develop recommendations.”

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130619/NEWS01/130619133/upgrades-reduced-route-100-crashes-study-finds#full_story

Highways Becoming Safer – Traffic Deaths Hit 61 Year Low

Some good news to report about the safety of America’s highways!  In 2010 32,788 people died on the nation’s highways.  This is down from 43,320 deaths in 2005, which represents a 25 percent decrease in five years.

In 1949 the U.S. population was less than half of what was reported in the 2010 census.  The number of miles driven rose by 20.5 billion in 2010.  With more cars and people on the nation’s highways than ever before, the fatality rate per 100 million miles was 1.09 in 2010 (a record low).

A big reason for the reduction of automotive fatalities is the use of seatbelts.  Nationally, seatbelt usage stands at 85 percent, which is an all time high.  Along with technology like anti-lock brakes, airbags and drunken driving crackdowns, seatbelt use has made a huge impact on driver safety.

Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.