1 Injured in Truck Accident on Willowbank Street in Bellefonte, PA

Bellefonte, PA — April 8, 2025, a pedestrian was injured in a truck accident at about 1:30 p.m. on Willowbank Street.

Authorities said a man was hit by a small dump truck near Myrtle Street.

The pedestrian, a 28-year-old Langhorne man whose name has not been made public, was flown to an area hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Centre County crash. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a pedestrian is struck by a commercial vehicle, especially something as large and potentially unwieldy as a dump truck, it’s a strong indication that someone wasn’t paying enough attention to what was happening directly in front of them. According to reports, a man was hit in the middle of the afternoon on Willowbank Street near Myrtle Street and was flown to the hospital in critical condition.

Dump trucks are often used in local construction and utility work, which means they frequently operate in areas where foot traffic is common: neighborhoods, business corridors and roadside projects. That proximity to pedestrians makes it all the more important for their drivers to maintain constant awareness, especially when making turns, backing up or navigating narrow streets. Unlike highway driving, these environments leave very little margin for error.

The key legal question here is whether the driver saw the pedestrian, or should have seen him. Was the truck turning? Backing? Pulling out of a construction site or driveway? Each of those scenarios comes with a specific duty of care. Commercial drivers are trained to check blind spots, use mirrors properly, and, in many cases, have a spotter assist with high-risk maneuvers. If none of that was done, that’s a serious issue.

Even in situations where a pedestrian crosses outside of a marked crosswalk, that doesn’t absolve a professional driver of responsibility. The standard is always whether the driver acted reasonably given the circumstances and whether they had a chance to avoid the collision. Midday lighting, a presumably alert driver and a pedestrian in or near the road all add up to a situation where visibility likely wasn’t the issue, but awareness might have been.

Investigators should be looking at any available surveillance footage, dashcam recordings and statements from witnesses or nearby workers. The truck’s mechanical condition should also be reviewed, particularly the mirrors, braking systems and any backup or blind spot monitoring features, if equipped.

At the end of the day, commercial drivers are expected to manage large, heavy vehicles in complex environments, and that means anticipating hazards before they become emergencies. When a pedestrian ends up critically injured in broad daylight, the investigation needs to focus not just on what happened in the moment, but on what should have been done to prevent it. Because in most cases, these kinds of crashes aren’t the result of bad luck: they’re the result of preventable lapses in basic safety practices.