The crash has kept the highway closed for hours between Route 512 in Hanover Township, Northampton County, and Bethlehem Township, Pa..
View full sizeRoute 22 traffic is slowed this morning eastbound just before the Route 512 exit in Hanover Township, Northampton County, after an accident between there and Route 191 in Bethlehem Township, Pa. A 21-year-old Easton man died early this morning after an accident on Route 22 in Bethlehem Township, Pa., Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim reports.
Brett Christian Kline, 21, of the 100 block of Ann Street, about 3:22 was thrown from the vehicle, Grim reported. Kline, who was a passenger, was pronounced dead at 4:17 at St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill, Grim said.Stephen Christopher Sales, 23, of Nazareth, was driving the vehicle when he lost control and struck the Jersey barrier that separates the east from the west side of the highway, Pennsylvania State Police report in a news release. The vehicle then went across the southern shoulder of the road and hit an embankment, ejecting Kline, police said. Kline suffered "major injuries" that turned out to be fatal, police said. Sales was not hurt, police said.
The vehicle ended up on the shoulder of the highway with significant front- and rear-end damage, police said.
The highway was closed until about 10 o'clock eastbound between Route 512 in Hanover Township, Northampton County, and Bethlehem Township, Pa., authorities said.
The coroner's office and Pennsylvania State Police are conducting the continuing investigation, Grim and police said. An autopsy was planned for this morning.
Kline was the son of Angela and Raymond Kline, of the same address. He was a graduate of Easton Area High School. He worked at Kelly Nissan in Lower Nazareth Township, according to his Facebook page.
Kline's father, Ray, is a longtime city of Easton employee, working at the wastewater treatment plant.
Word of the fatal crash spread quickly this morning through city hall.
“People are shaken up about it,” said Mayor Sal Panto, who is a neighbor of the Kline family. “I have kids that are a little older than that; it’s just something you always worry about.”
Panto said he notified city workers in an email and plans to pay his respects to the family later today.
“I’ve known Ray and Angela (Brett’s mother) a long time,” Panto said. “I’ve known (Brett) since he was first born.
“I’ll go to their home as a neighbor and a friend more than anything else. They’re good, hard-working middle class people.”
Express-Times Editor Jim Deegan contributed to this report.