Late last week, a semi truck was involved in an accident that killed one driver and shut down Buffalo’s Route 20 for more than four hours. The trucking accident took place on Saturday and involved a semi truck and a passenger sedan.
The driver and passenger in the sedan were both seriously injured in the collision. City of Evans police stated that both were alive at the time the authorities arrived, and were taken to the hospital. However, the driver died shortly after arrival, despite all efforts to save her. Her passenger’s condition remains unknown at this time, but her injuries appear to be serious yet not life-threatening. This usually means broken bones and other structural damage that doesn’t appear to threaten internal organs. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured in the collision, which damaged his truck and totaled the other car.
Pending notification of the families, names are currently behind withheld from the public.
Witness reports of the account vary significantly. According to one self-identified witness, the passenger car either turned or was pulled under the wheels of the semi truck as the car was accelerating. Pictures of the collision show the passenger side crushed inward and seem to corroborate this account. However, others stated that the semi “T-boned” the other vehicle and that the driver of the smaller car did not at any time cross the yellow line.
The highway in question is a two-lane highway according to the pictures of the scene. There is clearly very little room for anyone to move out of the way in the event of an emergency, and tractor-trailers are simply massive vehicles. They generate huge disruptions in the airflow of the highway as they move, often buffeting and disrupting the handling of smaller vehicles. The investigation into this accident is still ongoing, and it is unknown if and when charges will be filed.