Man killed, woman injured in wrong-way car accident in New York

New York State Police have reported that one man has been killed in a tragic wrong-way accident in Nichols. Authorities say the car accident happened around 3 p.m. the afternoon of Oct. 4. The accident appears to have been the result of a driver traveling the wrong way. 

According to state troopers, they were responding to a call about a driver headed the wrong direction on State Route 17. The driver was said to have been traveling west in the eastbound lanes. As a result, the car crashed head-on into a vehicle headed east. Both vehicles were seriously damaged by the time troopers arrived. 

The wrong-way driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. He was identified as a 90-year-old man from Elmira. The other driver, a 65-year-old woman, suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Reconstruction teams are still trying to determine why the elderly man entered the wrong lane, and an autopsy is slated to help determine not only his cause of death, but whether he was on medication at the time of the crash. 

It is incumbent upon any driver in New York State to exercise caution and pay special attention to their surroundings when operating a motor vehicle. In the case of this car accident, a number of issues may have caused the older driver to enter the wrong lane. While no criminal charges are filed posthumously, the injured woman may wish to take the case to civil court where she could file for personal injury based on police evidence pertaining to the wrong-way crash. 

Source: wbng.com, “Man, 90, dies in wrong way crash on Route 17”, Oct. 6, 2016