Woman recalls rock hitting car on 209

Linda DeVore was waiting in traffic on Route 209 in Jim Thorpe when her car was struck by a falling rock.

But she wasn’t on the Mansion House Hill, she was traveling from the Route 903 bridge toward Broadway.

“It was the noise of the rock, I didn’t get out of the car or anything. I don’t know how big it was, I just know it hit the windshield.

DeVore said she was driving her son, John, to get something to eat after his Special Olympics Track & Field practice at the L.B. Morris School was postponed.

As they sat at a standstill in traffic, she heard a loud bang. The rock had damaged her windshield and the frame around the window.

“It must have been a good size. It dented in the chrome, took the paint off the car,” she said.

The vehicle struck the passenger side, where John was sitting. She said he was understandably shaken by the incident.

“He’s special needs. He’s pretty high-functioning, but it scared him,” she said.

Insurance covered the cost of getting her vehicle fixed, but she spent two weeks using a rental car out of her own pocket. She said she believes the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation bears some responsibility for the incident.