A tow truck driver lost control while driving on snow and ice early Wednesday morning before slamming into a sport utility vehicle, killing the SUV driver, state police said.
The deadly crash closed Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1) near Creek Road around 5 a.m. It also caused area schools to close for the day as buses couldn't get around the hours' long road closure.
As SkyForce10 hovered overhead a short time later you could see a smashed up SUV off the roadway with a damaged flatbed tow truck nearby.
The driver of the SUV, Jeffrey Phillippe of Kennett Square, died in the wreck, Pennsylvania State Police said.
Phillippe's SUV was smashed when the tow truck driver lost control on the slippery roadway while traveling south on Route 1, police said. The tow truck crossed over the center line and smashed head on into Phillippe's SUV in the northbound lanes, investigators said.
The tow truck driver suffered undisclosed injuries, police said.
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District was forced to close because of the impact on bus routes.
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"With both Route 1 and the 926 bridge out -- our community is effectively cut in half," Superintendent Dr. John Sanville wrote in a message on the UCFSD website. "Under these circumstances bus runs could take hours. We feel it prudent to close schools today... I apologize for the timing and the inconvenience -- a very difficult situation."
