Police say driver was under the influence in fatal New Stanton crash

A Uniontown woman who was killed last week was struck by a vehicle driven backwards on a New Stanton roundabout, police found.

According to state police, the driver, who was not identified, was under the influence at the time of the crash, which occurred around 1 a.m. Thursday in the vicinity of Rachel Drive and Bair Boulevard.

Police said the driver became stuck on the curb of the roundabout following a different crash. The driver put the vehicle in reverse and was traveling around the roundabout when the vehicle struck and passed over a pedestrian, identified last week as Susan M. Clawson, 44, by Deputy Coroner Sean Hribal. Clawson was pronounced dead at the scene.

The vehicle continued off the roadway, over a yield sign, coming to a stop on the embankment. The driver was taken into custody.

The area of Rachel Drive and Bair Boulevard was closed for about four hours following the crash as the state police accident reconstruction team investigated.

According to PennDOT, there were 49,730 DUI arrests in Pennsylvania in 2018, a decrease from 52,189 arrests made in 2017. About 330 deaths were reported in 2018 in alcohol-related crashes, the Pennsylvania DUI Association reported, or 28% of all fatal crashes. Alcohol-related crashes also accounted for 6,227 reported injuries in 2018, the group reported.

There was also a 28% increase in the number of DUI drug arrests, PennDOT officials said, with 33,712 charges filed in 2018. It was not immediately if the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.