76-year-old Milk Truck Driver Dead after Driving off the Road

A tanker truck almost completely full of milk drove straight off the road when attempting a curve along Route 19 in Bergen, New York, Tuesday.

The 76-year-old driver from Perry in Wyoming County died in the crash. He was driving the milk delivery truck for a local milk delivery company.

A state police sergeant said the road was wet. “If you make even the slightest mistake you get off that soft shoulder; it’s pretty unforgiving.” A cop pointed out that the shifting load of milk would have made recovering from a mistake that much more difficult.

When the driver couldn’t recover, the truck flipped. He was crushed to death inside the cab.

A local resident heard the wreck. He said, “Girlfriend said it sounded like thunder, and I said, ‘No, that’s a heavy crash.'” When he went outside, his suspicions were found to be true.

Local authorities think the truck went right through the bend in the road without slowing down or trying to turn the wheel at all.

The resident said that he remembers other truck wrecks in the same general area as this most recent one. “People have a habit there; it’s not the first fatality right within 20 feet of where he is. They have a tendency to roll that curve fast.”

The accident is still under investigation. Authorities were trying to discern if the driver had a medical condition that may have affected his ability to compensate for road conditions and contributed to the crash.

Attorneys with a Law Office reveal another possible cause of the accident: falling asleep at the wheel. The United States Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that somewhere around 100,000 collisions reported to police are caused by drowsiness or fatigue. Of that number, it’s estimated that as many as 1,500 fatalities and 71,000 injuries occur.

An astronomical number, but it is not as large as one would think when comparing that number with how many drivers report falling asleep. A Farmers Insurance study in Long Island reveals that more than 10 percent of drivers admit to having fallen asleep behind the wheel and more than 20 percent say they have momentarily dozed while driving.

These are shocking statistics, especially considering that a bit more than 193,552,000 people have driver’s licenses in the U.S.

Good legal counsel will help you get all the reimbursement you are entitled to. A New York Truck Accident Attorney will look at your claim, your medical bills, repairs,