On Sunday, Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman and his wife Gisele were briefly hospitalized after a car accident on I-70 in Maryland.
Per the Maryland State Police, Fetterman was driving a Chevrolet Traverse over the 70 mph speed limit when he rear-ended a Chevrolet Impala at about 7:45 a.m. The Fettermans and the driver of the Impala, an unnamed 62-year-old woman, were taken to the hospital, where Fetterman was treated for a bruised shoulder. (All three had been wearing seatbelts.) Authorities listed Fetterman as “at fault” for the collision. Neither driver was tested for alcohol or substances, the report said.
It turns out Sunday’s accident is not the first notable incident in the junior senator’s driving history. The Washington Post reported Thursday that Fetterman has been ticketed for speeding twice in Pennsylvania, once in 2016 and once in March, when he was allegedly tracked at 34 mph over the speed limit. As a result of the March infraction, Fetterman was reportedly required to take a driver-improvement course.
Fetterman’s erratic driving has prompted worries among his staff. According to the Post, aides try to avoid texting the senator when they know he’s driving after several people witnessed Fetterman taking video calls or sending messages from behind the wheel. An unofficial rule in Fetterman’s office holds that staffers don’t travel with the senator while he’s driving due to concerns about safety.
Fetterman has also faced several medical challenges in recent years. In 2022, he suffered a stroke just days before he would go on to win the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat. A few months into his first term, Fetterman announced that he was checking himself into Walter Reed Medical Center to receive treatment for depression, an issue he has continued to raise awareness about in the weeks and months following his release.
Fetterman appeared to make light of the incident on Monday, thanking his well-wishers in a video with his wife while holding a bag of frozen peas and a bottle of Tylenol. “Not the best way to spend our 16th wedding anniversary, but we’re doing well and happy to be back home in Braddock with the family,” he wrote on social media.
