Lawsuit filed in turnpike crash that killed Monroeville woman

The husband of a Monroeville woman killed in a fiery crash in Cumberland County last year is suing the tractor-trailer driver who hit her and his employer.

Kristen Radage, 49, formerly of West Deer, was killed on Oct. 18, 2024, on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Lower Mifflin Township.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh by her husband, Michael S. Bell, against the truck driver, George K. Davis, of Linden, New Jersey. It includes allegations of negligence, failing to follow adequate safety measures and reckless driving.

The complaint also names as defendants Total Transportation of Mississippi; U.S. Xpress Inc.; U.S. Xpress Leasing Inc. and Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc.

Messages left with the companies Friday were not returned.

Davis was charged in Cumberland County County Common Pleas Court with homicide by vehicle and related counts in February.

A message left with his attorney late Friday was not immediately returned.

According to the lawsuit, Davis was driving a 2021 Freightliner tractor trailer eastbound just before 6 p.m. when he struck Radage’s vehicle, which was stopped in the right lane because of construction two miles ahead.

The lawsuit notes that there were digital signboards at six separate mile markers on the turnpike that day announcing roadwork ahead, that two lanes were closed and delays were expected.

Within two miles of the crash location — at mile marker 211.6 — there was a sign that read “stopped traffic ahead,” the lawsuit said.

Radage had her four-way flashers on while stopped in traffic, the complaint continued, when she was struck by Davis, who was traveling 65 mph and failed to stop as he approached the stopped traffic.

He violently struck her vehicle from behind, causing it to burst into flames, the lawsuit said.

Radage was pronounced dead at the scene.