Woman's Death In Pottstown Crash Brings GoFundMe, Petition

POTTSTOWN, PA — After a 35-year-old mother died in a head-on collision Tuesday night, a memorial fund has gathered support for her family and a petition has been posted asking Pottstown officials to address reckless driving in the Borough.

Nicole Benzenhafer, 35, died at Reading Hospital after the SUV she was driving was struck by a driver who witnesses said had been speeding around the borough before the fatal crash that happened after 10 p.m. in the 700 block of Queen Street, WFMZ reported.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office is preparing a statement related to the fatal head-on collision, a Pottstown Police Department Lieutenant said on Wednesday.

The statement was not yet available from the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office on Thursday afternoon. Patch will follow up when the D.A.'s report is released.

Though charges have not been issued related to the deadly crash, a petition has been launched on change.org, aimed at Pottstown Borough officials to address reckless driving in the Borough.

The change.org page says Elizabeth Devenny set up the petition, which asserts "the streets of Pottstown are getting to be a dangerous place thanks to reckless drivers."

It continues, "Residents should not have to be afraid to cross the street or let their children outside to play for fear that they might be hit by a speeding car. There have already been a number of vehicular-related incidents that have caused serious injury and death. Enough is enough — something needs to be done."

A call to Pottstown's mayor for comment had not yet been returned when this story was published.

A Memorial Fund page at GoFundMe had raised nearly $12,000 by Thursday afternoon, of a goal of $20,000 to help Benzenhafer's family with funeral expenses.

The memorial page gives details of the accident, from fund organizer Rachel Jones, a friend of Benzenhafer, saying the vehicle who hit her was traveling at more than 80 miles per hour, and pushed her car into someone's yard, on impact. These details of the crash are not verified by a law enforcement source.

The GoFundMe page said Benzenhafer is a single mother to a pre-teen son. "She worked two jobs and spent her free time with her long-time boyfriend Kevin Priotte and his daughter, who Nikki immediately treated like her own. She is beautiful, smart, and full of life. Her loyalty to friends and family knows no bounds. She has the greatest sense of humor, accompanied by the most wonderful laugh. My parents called us the 'Giggle Girls' when we were kids as we would spend all day and night just laughing. She kept this humor and light with her into adulthood."

The GoFundMe organizer said donations will go "to help with memorial and funeral expenses. Nikki did not have life insurance or anything set up since she was only 35 and the I'm sure the thought of dying and leaving her son without anyone was not something she thought of."

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