JULY 16, 2015
WARWICK, N.Y. —
A third teenager has died after being involved in a fatal crash when a driver's education car collided with a truck, the authorities said.
The
superintendent of the Goshen School district, Daniel Connor, confirmed
to The Associated Press that 16-year-old Lucas O'Connor died on
Wednesday.
Lucas
was one of five people in a 2007 Chevrolet Malibu that was struck by a
Freightliner truck on Tuesday. The truck hit the rear driver's-side door
of the car at an intersection in Warwick.
Two
other teenagers in the back seat, Antonio Baglivo and Paul VanDoran,
also died in the crash. The driver, 16-year-old Claudia Krebs, and a
61-year-old driving instructor were injured.
Mr. Connor said school officials received word of Lucas's death shortly before a planned vigil on Wednesday night.
A message left at Decat Driving School was not immediately returned.
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2 Die in Crash of Driver’s Ed Car in Southeastern New York
WARWICK,
N.Y. —
Two 16-year-old students were killed when their driver’s ed car
was struck by a truck in southeastern New York on Tuesday morning.
Lt.
Thomas Maslanka, of the Warwick Police Department, said five people
were in the car, a 2007 Chevrolet Malibu owned by Decat Driving School
of Middletown: the 60-year-old instructor in the passenger seat, a
16-year-old girl at the wheel and three 16-year-old boys in the back.
Lieutenant
Maslanka said the car pulled into the path of a westbound Freightliner
truck owned by Never Stop Transport, driven by a 61-year-old
Pennsylvania man.
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WARWICK — Two Goshen teenagers were killed Tuesday morning and four people were injured when a driver’s education vehicle collided with a truck at the intersection of County Routes 1A and 41 in the hamlet of Edenville, police said.
The accident, reported at 10:51 a.m., happened when 16-year-old Goshen High School student Claudia Krebs, driving a 2007 Chevy Malibu sedan with three other Goshen students and a driving instructor, made a left-hand turn from Route 41 (Union Corners Road) onto Route 1A, directly into the path of the tractor trailer, police said.
Two of the three rear-seat passengers in the car, Antonio Baglivo and Paul VanDoran, both 16, were killed, said Goshen School District Superintendent Daniel Connor in a letter posted on the district’s website Tuesday evening.
One of the boys was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other was later declared dead at St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick, said Warwick police Lt. John Rader at the scene of the crash. The third boy, Lucas O’Connor, also 16, was clinging to life Tuesday afternoon at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.
Krebs was taken to Westchester Medical Center in stable condition, while the 60-year-old driving instructor and the 61-year-old tractor driver were at Orange Regional Medical Center in the Town of Wallkill with nonlife-threatening injuries, Town of Warwick police Lt. Tom Maslanka said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. Neither man was identified by police.
The car is owned by Decat Driving School of Middletown. A call to the driving school was not immediately returned.
Maslanka said the truck, a 2006 Freightliner owned by Never Stop Transport in Port Jervis, was heading west on Route 1A and had the right of way; he would not speculate whether speed played a role in the crash, citing the ongoing investigation. The tractor was not hitched to a trailer and had no cargo, Maslanka said.
There is a blinking red light at the intersection and stop signs on both sides of Route 41. No charges have been filed, and Maslanka said police had not decided whether any would be forthcoming.
Baglivo and VanDoran were to start their junior and senior years in September, Connor said.
“Both of the young men were very popular,” Connor said. “Just great kids, always with smiles on their faces, joys to be around.”
Connor said the students were taking a driver’s ed course given by Decat that’s hosted in the summer at Goshen schools.
The district will offer counselors to students and others who feel they need it, starting at noon Wednesday at the newer gym at Goshen High School, Connor said.
The Orange County Mental Health Association's toll-free Helpline (1-800-832-1200/845-346-HELP) is available 24 hours a day, said Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus. The Mobile Mental Health Team is accessible 24 hours a day at 1-888-750-2266.
Reporter Heather Yakin contributed to this story.gevangelist@th-record.com
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Intersection has been a troublespot
WARWICK — The intersection where two 16-year-old boys from Goshen
died in a car crash Tuesday morning has long been identified as
dangerous by Town of Wawick officials, Supervisor Michael Sweeton said.
Sweeton said the town has been asking Orange County for at least eight years to convert a blinking red light at the intersection of County Route 1/1A and County Route 41 into a fully functioning, three-color traffic light. A serious accident in 2013 prompted Sweeton to renew the town's request with the county, he said.
"The previous administration in Orange County deemed through their analysis that it didn’t warrant it," Sweeton said at a press conference Tuesday regarding the crash. "However, we argue, due to the number of incidents at that intersection that it certainly warrants it. I think this case underscores how much it warrants it."
Sweeton said County Executive Steve Neuhaus, who took office in 2014, has assured him the county will now be looking into converting the traffic light.
Town of Warwick Police Lt. Tom Maslanka could not provide exact figures for the number of crashes at the intersection, some of them fatal.
"What I can tell you is that in my 28 years (on the Warwick police force), I’ve been called out to that intersection far too many times," he said.
Gittel Evangelist
Sweeton said the town has been asking Orange County for at least eight years to convert a blinking red light at the intersection of County Route 1/1A and County Route 41 into a fully functioning, three-color traffic light. A serious accident in 2013 prompted Sweeton to renew the town's request with the county, he said.
"The previous administration in Orange County deemed through their analysis that it didn’t warrant it," Sweeton said at a press conference Tuesday regarding the crash. "However, we argue, due to the number of incidents at that intersection that it certainly warrants it. I think this case underscores how much it warrants it."
Sweeton said County Executive Steve Neuhaus, who took office in 2014, has assured him the county will now be looking into converting the traffic light.
Town of Warwick Police Lt. Tom Maslanka could not provide exact figures for the number of crashes at the intersection, some of them fatal.
"What I can tell you is that in my 28 years (on the Warwick police force), I’ve been called out to that intersection far too many times," he said.
Gittel Evangelist