WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Two, 17-year-old boys sustained “major injury” as a result of a one-vehicle accident at 8:38 p.m. Saturday on Arch Road, which is south of Lemon Road, in Washington Township, Jefferson County.
The DuBois-based State Police identified them as passengers, Joseph J. Alderton, 17, of Reynoldsville and Joshua M. Fields, 17, of Brockport. They said the 21-year-old Ridgway man who was operating the vehicle sustained moderate injury in the accident.
Police said it wasn’t known if the operator and Alderton were wearing their safety belts at the time of the accident. They indicated that Fields was not using his safety belt, however. They said all three required emergency medical services transport to the Altoona Hospital.
According to the accident report, the operator was traveling south in the right lane of Arch Street Extension. While negotiating a right curve, he lost control of his 1996 Mazda Miata due to excessive speed.
His vehicle slid off of the east berm of the roadway while rotating in a counter-clockwise motion. His vehicle’s passenger’s side struck a utility pole that was located 8-feet east of the roadway, shearing it off as a result, police said.
Police said his vehicle came to a rest 12 feet east of the roadway, facing southeast. Alderton was entrapped in the vehicle; Fields was ejected from the vehicle.
Police said the 21-year-old operator was cited for driving a vehicle at a safe speed as a result of the accident.
Police were assisted at the scene by the Brockway Borough Volunteer Fire Department, the Brockway Ambulance and the Falls Creek Volunteer Fire Department.