Man dead following car accident in New York

Police are still investigating a serious crash that claimed the life of one man in Cortland County the morning of Sept. 22. New York authorities responded to the car accident on State Route 90 in Homer. One man was reported dead, while a second was seriously hurt.

The accident report shows that a 61-year-old man was traveling southbound on Route 90 when the accident occurred. For reasons unknown, the man allowed his vehicle to drift into the northbound lane, where he collided with a tractor-trailer headed north. The force of the impact spun his vehicle off the road and onto the shoulder.

The driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by authorities who arrived shortly after 8:45 a.m. The 48-year-old driver of the tractor-trailer was also injured in the crash. He was transported to a local hospital with injuries described as non life-threatening. Police are still investigating why the driver of the car allowed his vehicle to drift into the oncoming lane.

Police will also be conducting an autopsy on the driver to determine whether he was intoxicated or on medication at the time of the car accident. If evidence is found that the older driver was materially responsible for the accident, New York law will allow the truck driver to file a personal injury suit against the other driver’s estate, as well as anyone else with ownership interest in the vehicle. Civil suits of this kind require evidence of driver negligence, but they do not require criminal charges to be filed.

Source: localsyr.com, “Police identify man killed in Cortland County car, tractor-trailer crash“, Sept. 23, 2016