Nude driver causes crash, witnesses say

March 21, 2008 08:12 am

— SHAMOKIN DAM — A naked Perry County woman speeding against traffic on Routes 11-15 Thursday caused a three-car crash that sent three people to the hospital.
Susan Shuman, 64, of New Bloomfield, was driving a Dodge Caliber north in the southbound lanes just south of the Veterans Memorial Bridge overpass about 9:30 a.m., Shamokin Dam police officer Brad Gaugler said.
Her Dodge hit a Chevy Equinox driven by Lori Knowlden of Trout Run, struck a center concrete barrier and crashed into a Hummer driven by Fred Grunsby Sr. of Muncy Valley.
Shuman was completely naked, witnesses said, and driving at a high rate of speed with her four-way flashers on.
Don Blackburn, a truck driver from West Virginia, was driving behind Grunsby’s Hummer when he saw Shuman approaching on the wrong side of the road.
“The car was flying,” he said, “and hit the (Chevy) first. I slowed down, and the Hummer slowed down, almost to a stop, but (Shuman) flew off the wall and hit the Hummer. The impact spun it around.”
Blackburn said he got out of his truck to help those involved in the accident, and upon reaching Shuman’s car, he saw she wasn’t wearing anything.
“She didn’t have a stitch of clothing on,” he said. “So I walked away from that car and let another woman talk to her.”
The woman assisting Shuman asked whether she wanted to call a husband or family member to alert them of the accident, but the number Shuman asked her to call was out of service, Blackburn said.
He then approached the Hummer and said a woman passenger in the vehicle was complaining of pain and was sick.
Gaugler said Shuman, Grunsby and his passenger were all taken to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville. A nursing supervisor Thursday night was unable to provide their medical conditions.
All three cars involved had to be towed.
Traffic remained backed up on the southbound lanes until around 10:15 a.m., when a single lane was opened.
The accident is under investigation, Shamokin Dam police said.
Shamokin Dam and state police from Selinsgrove, Shamokin Dam and Hummels Wharf fire companies, Americus Ambulance and EMTS Ambulance assisted at the scene.
n E-mail comments to gmorton@dailyitem.com.

Photos

Susan Shuman, 64, of New Bloomfield, drove the Dodge Caliber naked in the photo before crashing into two vehicles in the southbound lanes of Routes 11-15 Thursday. She was going the wrong way, police said.