Tractor trailer drivers in New York State Thruway crash could face criminal charges, Cuomo says
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Tractor trailers involved in a 21-vehicle pileup on the Thruway Wednesday shouldn't have been on the expressway, and the drivers could face criminal charges, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo had issued a tractor trailer and bus ban earlier this week on the Thruway between Exit 46 (I-390) and the Pennsylvania line, which went into effect at 8 p.m. Tuesday. It was meant to continue for the duration of the storm in the Buffalo and Rochester region.
"Tractor trailer and truck restrictions exist for the safety of the driver, but also for the safety of everyone else on the road and first responders," said Cuomo Wednesday. "Our message tonight is simple: violating the tractor trailer ban is illegal."
Violators will be punished with fines up to $450, two points on the Drivers License and potential criminal charges, he said.
"The investigation into the crash is ongoing, but make no mistake: anyone found to have done something they shouldn't will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," said Cuomo.
The 21-vehicle crash happened at about 2:20 p.m. Wednesday in the eastbound Thruway lanes between Batavia and Le Roy, forcing the closure of the highway in both directions to accommodate emergency response vehicles. The Thruway reopened at about 7:45 p.m.
Multiple people were injured in the pileup.
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"It was very chaotic, just because there were so many people around," said Le Roy Fire District Chief Thomas Wood Wednesday, shortly after returning from the scene. "We didn’t know who was injured, who was not. People were just wandering around, out of their vehicles — and there were so many vehicles."
A member of the State Police was among those hurt, with the trooper's squad car sandwiched among several tractor-trailers. That person's injuries were considered non-life threatening, the agency said. Wood described the woman's injuries as "survivable, but they are serious."
Eastbound traffic was re-routed off the Thruway at the Pembroke, Genesee County, exit (48A), and westbound traffic was being diverted at Exit 47 in Le Roy, the authority said.
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