Separate crashes, one involving police officers and the other a big rig hauling cars, closed sections of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 95 Wednesday morning.
Two officers were hospitalized after spinning out and striking a guard rail along Interstate 95 northbound near the Columbus Boulevard/Washington Avenue off-ramp in Philadelphia around 10 a.m.
The officers were conscious as they were transported from the scene, police said.
Drivers were forced off the northbound lanes of I-95 at the Walt Whitman off-ramp in South Philadelphia. It took almost a hour to fully clear the scene and get traffic moving again.
Earlier, at least two big rigs, including a car carrier, collided around 6:30 a.m. along the turnpike westbound at milepost 283 in Denver, Lancaster County. The wreck closed all the westbound lanes between the Reading (286) and Lebanon/Lancaster (266) interchanges.
Some of the cars being hauled by the car carrier were smashed and scattered across the highway.
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The roadway finally reopened around 12:30 p.m.
Amazingly, no injuries were reported. No word yet what caused the turnpike crash.
The crash happened during a trailer restriction on CDL-weighted trucks, double trailers, tractors hauling empty trailers of trucks and RVs.
PennDOT is urging people to stay of roads and has instituted speed restrictions (45 mph) on other major highways due to a nor'easter impacting the region.
By 2 p.m., AAA Mid-Atlantic had already responded to 350 motorist calls in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.
Drivers really should avoid getting behind the wheel as there have also been spin out crashes in other areas including along the Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden.
A car also went off Route 422 North at the State Route 29 Exit in Collegeville around 11 a.m. NBC10's Mitch Blacher captured the car in a ditch next to the highway.
Also watch out for fallen limbs and trees on roads and sidewalks.
