Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Tragedy in Warwick: 2 teen student drivers killed, 2 injured after head-on collision with tractor trailer truck in New York


 
A blue tarp covers a driver's education car, after two teenagers were killed in a crash involving the car and a semi-trailer truck in Warwick, on Tuesday, July 14. (Credit: CBS2)
A blue tarp covers a driver’s education car, after two teenagers were killed in a crash involving the car and a semi-trailer truck in Warwick, on Tuesday, July 14. (Credit: CBS2)

2 Teens Killed In Tractor-Trailer-student Car Crash In Warwick, New York



WARWICK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — 

Two teenagers are dead after their driver’s education car was involved in a head-on crash with a tractor-trailer Tuesday morning, police said.

The accident took place around 10:20 a.m. on County Route 1 and Bloom Corner Road in the Orange County town of Warwick.

As CBS2’s Lou Young reported, the crash took the lives of two student drivers – both 16 years old. Two others in the car were seriously injured, police said.

The intersection is controlled not by a regular traffic signal, but by a blinking light that flashes red for one cross-street and yellow for the other, Young reported.

The semi-trailer truck had the yellow blinker when it hit the driver’s education vehicle, a white Chevrolet sedan, Young reported. The speed limit at the intersection is 45 mph, and the result was disaster.

“It was a very, very strong impact. It pushed the sedan about 25 yards down an adjacent street where it came to rest,” said Warwick police Lt. Thomas Maslanka.

“It’s a dangerous intersection,” said Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton.

 “We have requested numerous times to have a blinking light turned into a fully functional traffic signal. We believe that that’s a safer way to handle this intersection. So we’re hoping that if anything good can be had out of this tragedy, we can get that intersection made safer.”

The driver’s ed car is owned by a driving school based in Middletown, New York. The students who had been in the car were all from the Goshen area, Young reported.

A 16-year-old girl who was driving the car was seriously injured and hospitalized. The 60-year-old instructor was also seriously injured, Young reported.

The driver of the truck was not seriously hurt.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, the crash remained under investigation and no one had been ticketed or charged.