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Traffic Light Causes Accident
A fully functional traffic light could have prevented a car accident at an intersection that hospitalized five people Saturday afternoon.
A Ford pickup truck southbound on state Route 150 (West Sand Lake Road) broadsided a Dodge minivan that pulled out from Snyders Lake Road around 3:45 p.m.
Upon the accident occurring, the staff at a nearby restaurant quickly came outside and tried to help the victims until help arrived. They used towels to try and stop the bleeding. One of the van passengers had her legs pinned and was losing consciousness, said Lackey.
The three van passengers, who were seated in the rear, were taken to Albany Med via ambulance. Ernest Taylor, 17, of Nassau, suffered neck and facial injuries. An unidentified 14-year-old girl suffered hip and face injuries, and a 15-year-old boy suffered lower-leg injuries.
The van's driver, Shakona Manley, 16, and front-seat passenger Rebecca Herrle, 24, both of Nassau, were taken to the field adjacent the North Greenbush Town Hall to be airlifted to Albany Medical Center hospital with serious neck and leg injuries.
The driver of the truck, Nicholas P. Skinner, of Wynantskill, and his passenger were not seriously injured and refused treatment, according to police officials.
Neighbors and employees of Villa Vallenti, a restaurant on the corner, claimed that the intersection is treacherous and needs a new traffic light.
Apparently, the problem is that the flashing light currently at the intersection only instructs drivers coming from Snyder's Lake Road to stop. Drivers can't see oncoming southbound cars on Route 150, which only has a flashing caution light at the intersection, coming over a hillcrest.
The result is the driver crossing from Snyder's Lake Road proceeds when he does not see the southbound vehicle hidden by the crest in the road, driving in front of the southbound vehicle.
North Greenbush Police are investigating the cause of the accident. But onlookers were convinced that the hillcrest and lack of a timed red-green traffic light are to blame.