On a busy afternoon a week ago today, a bad accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bedford County closed 86 miles of the highway in both directions for about four hours.

Three residents from this area who were heading east were among thousands of people affected directly and indirectly.

Dr. Vincent Mosesso Jr., 50, of Upper St. Clair, an emergency-room physician at UPMC Presbyterian, was released from the hospital a couple of days ago.

In a way he was lucky -- he was not killed.

A tractor-trailer veered out of control, jackknifed and struck his SUV in the passing lane with such force that it drove the vehicle into the barrier separating traffic. The SUV broke through the thick concrete, landed on its roof and was struck by a westbound vehicle.

His wife, Janet, did not accompany her husband to a medical conference in Baltimore. "The passenger side was demolished," she said, shuddering at the thought of her fate had she made the trip.

Four other people were injured, albeit not seriously, in the 5:41 p.m. crash at Milepost 140, a straight, level stretch in a sparsely populated, mountainous area.

Shortly thereafter, Sue Vrabel, of Churchill, and her husband, Bob, got on the toll road, heading to the Lehigh Valley area on business.

They and many others became victims of the turnpike's ineptness in handling traffic matters, including failing to provide timely and useful information to people it calls "our customers."

The Vrabels entered the toll road at 6:30 p.m. State police stopped them about an hour later near Somerset. After sitting for about 90 minutes, they got off the turnpike, devised their own detour and arrived in Breezewood at 10:30 p.m.

Mrs. Vrabel sent a six-page e-mail detailing their experience and frustration about turnpike operating failures and shortcomings during major incidents.

She questioned contingency and emergency plans, an "antiquated, useless communication system," garbled talk on the Highway Advisory Radio channels and the lack of maps.

"I understand being inconvenienced under such serious circumstances," Mrs. Vrabel said. "Feeling like we were being held hostage is another matter. We hear so much about emergency planning on a big scale, but when the Pennsylvania Turnpike can't handle one big accident with fire and injuries, it makes me wonder if we're any better off since 9/11."

Turnpike spokesman Bill Capone provided a detailed analysis to demonstrate that response to the accident was fast and adequate, that sufficient personnel were on scene and at interchanges along the closed 86-mile stretch, that traffic management and an emergency "Plan X" were implemented, and that communications were handled according to the book.

But ...

• The reason medical help and a helicopter showed up so quickly after the accident may be partly because Dr. Mosesso provided an "inside number" to a helpful samaritan/rescuer who called on a cell phone.

• The Vrabels would have wasted less time and gas by sitting out the accident if they could have learned the eastbound lanes were reopening just about the time they were exiting at Somerset.

• Only one person was on duty at the Kegg maintenance garage to the west and one at the Everett garage to the east of the crash site. That's two people on the 3-to-11 shift, covering 40 miles of one of the most hazardous sections of the old road, on one of the busiest days of the week, during the busy summer travel season, where I-76 doubles as I-70 and carries many trucks.

• For reasons still not understood, officials shut down the entire road between New Stanton and Breezewood and sent vehicles to I-68 south of the Pennsylvania border when they could have used 43 miles of Route 30 and Route 219 between Somerset and Breezewood. The 160-mile detour included traveling Route 40 heavy with Laurel Highlands tourist traffic.

• Although turnpike records show the eastbound lanes past the accident scene were reopened at 8:58 p.m., the eastbound detour wasn't lifted until 9:34 p.m., so drivers were unnecessarily being detoured.

Traffic, including hundreds of trucks, was backed up for miles on I-70 eastbound approaching New Stanton, so anyone trying to proceed past the turnpike entrance or wanting to use the turnpike to travel west got trapped in the mess.

The 1640 AM radio channel at New Stanton did not broadcast updated information about the accident or when the highway might be reopened. It merely told eastbound travelers to exit and take Route 119 to Uniontown to Route 40 east to I-68 in Maryland.

The documentation that Mr. Capone provided to show the turnpike reacted appropriately appears to be based on a game plan in serious need of improvement and updating.

It was pretty hard for him to dispute facts surrounding the situation because Mr. Know-it-All was driving east on the old Pike Sunday evening.

There's nothing like a reporter being in the wrong place at the right time.