A Lehigh County woman was hit and killed by an out-of-control pickup truck while she was shoveling snow left by Wednesday’s blizzard.
Viola Rutkowski, 56, of North Whitehall Township, was removing snow from around her mailbox, across the road from her house, on Coffeetown Road at about 2 p.m. Thursday. A 17-year-old driver lost control of his pickup truck and struck Rutkowski, reports the Morning Call.
The impact was so great that Rutwoski’s body was flung far enough that the driver could not find her along the road.
When Rutkowski was found, she was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where she was pronounced dead at 3:13 p.m. The cause of death was blunt-force trauma.
Coffeetown Road had been partially cleared of snow at the time of the collision, reports the Morning Call.
Paul R. Zondlo, Lehigh County chief deputy coroner, ruled the death an accident.
