Driver Walks Away From Close Call in Wynnewood

The driver of a late-model Volkswagen Jetta with New York state license plates escaped serious injury Wednesday morning after striking a utility pole head-on, along the west-bound lane of E. Wynnewood Road across from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, police and a witness said.

The driver was a young woman, and evidently a student at St. Joseph’s University, said Tom McConnell, the owner of a home on Beacon Lane who heard the accident happen some 30 yards from where he and his wife were sitting in their kitchen. That was not confirmed, however, and the woman’s identity and official condition could not be learned immediately.

Police said the victim was taken to Lankenau Hospital for further evaluation. The accident happened at about 9:40 a.m. As of shortly after 11 a.m., police were still standing by for PECO to assess the damage. Though one pole appeared to be destroyed, there was no danger posed by hanging or live wires, police said.

McConnell said the driver walked away from the accident with the help of a group of people who helped pull her up and out of the passenger side window—the four-door sedan had ended up settling on its side, with the driver-side doors to the pavement. Motor oil and other automotive fluids plumed to the side of the vehicle.

“There were probably 10 people rushing to her aid immediately,” McConnell said, adding that it appeared she had injured her knee in the collision.

“I think she’s OK. They took a while before they brought her over, so I don’t think there was anything emergent that they were worried about.”

McConnell said he saw the woman speaking on her cell phone before being taken to the hospital.