Cops blame fatal crash on iPod use

Nicole Gallo, a 2008 Archbishop Prendergast grad, and a close friend had just left Delaware County Memorial Hospital yesterday morning and were walking down Lansdowne Avenue in Upper Darby.

Those were the final moments of Gallo's life.

Gallo, 19, of Clifton Heights, was killed instantly when a driver - apparently distracted by her iPod - swerved off the road at 11:15 a.m., barreled down the sidewalk and struck Gallo and Christine Bochanski, 20, of Lansdowne.

Bochanski was taken back inside the hospital, then transported to the trauma unit at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where she was in stable condition last night.

Upper Darby police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said the driver, Rachael Jankins, 20, of Havertown, was fiddling with the iPod in her Hyundai Accent when she crossed two lanes of traffic and hit Gallo and Bochanski from behind.

"There are no skid marks," he said, "so at whatever speed the vehicle was traveling, it just struck them."

Jankins suffered minor injuries. Police took a blood sample and were applying for a warrant yesterday afternoon to search her car before deciding whether to file charges.

On her Facebook page, Jankins' quote is: "Those who do not fear death will never die."

"This was a tragedy that was the result of stupidity and inattentive driving," Chitwood said. "It's something that certainly could have been avoided, no doubt about it."