Asphalt Truck Crashes Into House in Greene County, Tragically Killing One
The tragic accident took place on Wednesday.
In most parts of the Hudson Valley, this time of year not only brings warmer weather and more daylight but also brings lots of road construction. Locally it's almost impossible to drive anywhere and not see a road crew doing some sort of road work on Hudson Valley roads.
With all of the road work construction projects in progress, that means there are lots of dump trucks on the roads and unfortunately those trucks also bring added danger to drivers. According to WRGB and the Greene County Sheriff's Office, first responders were on the scene Wednesday of a reported fatal accident involving an asphalt truck that crashed into two vacant homes in the small Greene County town of Ashland, New York.
What Happened?
The Sheriff's Office told WRGB that an asphalt truck, being operated by a female driver, was traveling southbound down a long steep grade on West Settlement Road in Ashland and was unable to stop the truck at the approaching intersection of Route 23. Being unable to stop the truck, she crossed route 23 and slammed into a vacant house. The impact of the truck hitting the houses below caused them to catch fire.
Sheriff's Deputies did say that a female was found deceased at the scene and is believed to be the driver of the truck. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the female driver.
Personally, I grew up just up the road from where this accident took place and the road that the driver was driving on has always been a scary hill to drive down. I can remember numerous accidents happening at the same intersection back when I lived in the area. The issue with the road is that the steep hill ends right at an intersection where cars are driving by at 30-50 mph, so there's really no time or space to adjust if there's an issue with stopping.
The accident is still under investigation and when more details are released we will update this story.