Why Lehigh Valley Car Crashes Spike When Out-of-State Vacationers Hit the Road

Every Memorial Day weekend, I-78 experiences a significant shift in traffic. This highway runs east-west straight through Lehigh County, and by Friday afternoon, it becomes a moving stream of New York and New Jersey license plates. Drivers heading to the Poconos, passing through on the way to western PA, or looping around via I-476 to avoid the Jersey Shore backups all use this route. The problem is, almost none of these drivers know this stretch of road.

For Lehigh Valley residents, the annual weekend brings a familiar risk. NHTSA data consistently show elevated fatal crash rates over Memorial Day weekend compared to typical holiday Fridays and Sundays. This is not a coincidence. It is a product of unfamiliar drivers, speed differentials, local interchange geometry, and the fact that volume on these corridors spikes at exactly the moment when attentiveness drops.

When those conditions combine with a driver unfamiliar with where Route 22 meets Union Boulevard, or with someone merging at speeds better suited to the Garden State Parkway than this stretch of road, serious crashes can happen. If you are the one who ends up at Lehigh Valley Hospital after an accident involving an out-of-state driver, you may be asking, “What happens next?”

How Out-of-State Drivers Create a Different Kind of Crash Risk

There is nothing unusual about drivers coming from New Jersey or New York. The problem is route familiarity, or the lack of it. Driving culture around merging, following distance, and shoulder use varies enough between states to matter. A driver used to one set of norms will apply those norms on a road that was built for different behavior.

The Union Boulevard interchange area near the I-78/Route 22 corridor in Allentown is not forgiving for someone entering it for the first time at 65 miles per hour. Locals know where the lane drops, where the merge narrows, and where traffic slows unexpectedly on the approach from the east. Out-of-state drivers are making those decisions in real time, often with a phone GPS telling them one thing while the road is doing another.

I-476, the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, carries its own hazards. The interchange exits for the Lehigh Valley area can surprise drivers who have only used the southern portion of the Turnpike. The speed differential between mainline Turnpike traffic and the deceleration lanes is compressed on holiday weekends when everyone is trying to exit at the same time.

What Counts as Negligence When the Other Driver Is from Out of State?

Unfamiliar road conditions do not excuse poor driving. In Pennsylvania, a driver is expected to operate their vehicle safely for the conditions they actually encounter, not the conditions they are used to back home. This means that if a driver from New York merges without checking blind spots because that is how traffic flows on the I-95 corridor, and that merge causes a collision on I-78, the fact that they were unfamiliar with the road does not reduce their liability. In fact, it may strengthen the negligence argument because a reasonable driver accounts for unfamiliar conditions by adjusting their behavior, not by importing habits from elsewhere.

Negligence in Pennsylvania requires showing:

• A duty to drive safely
• A breach of that duty
• Causation
• Damages

An out-of-state driver traveling above the speed limit on a 65 mph corridor and rear-ending a vehicle in a construction zone fits that framework straightforwardly. So too does a driver who cuts across two lanes approaching a Route 22 interchange without signaling because they misread the lane markings. The contributing factor of road unfamiliarity is relevant to why the crash happened, but it does not create a defense.

How Can an Out-of-State Driver Affect Your Car Accident Claim?

One of the first questions people ask is whether it matters that the other driver is from out of state. In most cases, it does not affect the claims process in the way many would assume.

If the crash happened on I-78 or I-476 in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania law applies. The lawsuit would be filed in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, not in a New Jersey or New York court. The at-fault driver’s insurance company, wherever it is based, is required to respond to a claim under Pennsylvania law.

One important detail is that Pennsylvania uses a choice no-fault insurance system for auto accidents, which means your own insurer covers initial medical costs and lost wages through your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage, regardless of who caused the crash. But that does not end the inquiry.

If you carry full tort coverage, you retain the right to sue the at-fault driver for the full range of damages, including pain and suffering. If you carry limited tort coverage, your ability to sue for certain damages is restricted unless the injuries meet a threshold of seriousness. An out-of-state driver hitting you does not automatically override your tort election. Knowing which coverage you have is the first thing to sort out after the crash.

What to Do at the Scene When the Other Driver Has Out-of-State Plates

The immediate steps after a Lehigh Valley crash involving an out-of-state driver are mostly the same as any other crash, with a few additions worth knowing.

Get everything off their insurance card. Out-of-state drivers may carry insurance from companies that are not familiar names in Pennsylvania. Take a clear photo of the card and write down the insurer’s name, policy number, and claims phone number if it is listed.

Photograph the out-of-state plates. This sounds obvious, but in the chaos after a crash on a busy interstate shoulder, it is easy to forget. The plate number will matter if the driver leaves the scene or if their contact information is incomplete.

Call for emergency services and go to Lehigh Valley Hospital. Do not refuse an ambulance because you are not sure how bad your injuries are. Many crash injuries may not become apparent for days or even weeks after the accident. A documented hospital visit on the day of the crash creates the medical record that anchors your claim.

Document the scene. Before traffic is rerouted or vehicles are moved, take photographs of all four sides of each vehicle, the road surface, skid marks (if visible), and the surrounding signage and lane markings. On a stretch like I-78 near the Route 22 interchange, the lane configuration and posted speed limit can be relevant to the liability analysis later.

What is the Legal Process in an Out-of-State Car Accident Case?

Once you have received medical treatment and reported the crash to your own insurer, the process of dealing with the at-fault driver’s insurance company begins. Out-of-state insurers may try to apply their home state’s standards to the claim. That argument does not hold. Pennsylvania law applies to crashes that occur in Pennsylvania. An insurance adjuster suggesting otherwise is either mistaken or testing whether you know the difference.

The timeline for a personal injury claim in Lehigh County is important, too. Pennsylvania has a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, running from the date of the crash. The problem is that evidence degrades, witnesses become harder to locate, and the insurance company’s investigation will have already run its course by the time you start yours. Getting an evaluation of your claim early does not mean you have to file a lawsuit immediately. It means that you understand what your claim is worth before you agree to anything.

If the at-fault driver carried minimal insurance and your damages exceed their policy limits, your own underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage becomes relevant. This is another area where the specifics of your Pennsylvania auto policy, not the other driver’s, determine what you can recover.

Munley Law has represented car accident victims throughout Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley for nearly 70 years. If you were involved in a car accident with an out-of-state driver, we’re here to help. Contact our Allentown car accident attorneys today to schedule a free consultation.