Truck Accidents 360 Newswire

DE WITT, NY: A truck driver died Thursday morning after his tractor trailer left a New York highway and plowed into a tree in De Witt, NY. The fatal truck collision happened off the eastbound lanes of the NY State Thruway in Onondaga County in the Syracuse metro region. The area is in the north-central section of the state, between the cities of Rochester and Albany, and 250 miles northeast of New York, NY.

Fatal semi truck accident in De Witt New York on the eastbound New York State Thruway. Photo credit: Dick Blume/The Post Standard

Thursday morning, 38 year old Audie O’Neil of Castile, NY was driving his 18 wheeler east on the NYS Thruway, hauling a cargo of lettuce for Price Chopper. A passenger, 36 year old Keith Pfeiffer, also from Castile, was asleep in the tractor trailer’s berth.

Shortly before 10:00 a.m. as O’Neil was traveling through De Witt he apparently lost control of his truck and went off the highway in the area near mile marker 280.6 between exits 35 and 36. The tractor trailer went through a drainage ditch at the side of the thruway and crashed into a tree. The tree was uprooted by the impact of the truck and fell down onto the cab of the truck.

MAP

Location of the semi truck Accident along the eastbound New York State Thruway between Rt 81 and Carrier Circle.

New York State Police responded to the truck accident scene and found the driver, O’Neil, dead inside the crushed truck cab. Mr. Pfeiffer, the passenger, was still alive but had suffered some injuries in the truck collision.

The truck accident had pushed the truck’s trailer section into the cab and smashed the roof in. Emergency workers were able to get the passenger out of the sleeping berth and treated him at the scene. He was then transported to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. His injuries are reportedly life-threatening and include a fractured ankle and internal damage.

Work crews had to stabilize the truck before they were able to remove the truck driver’s body from the crushed cab of the 18 wheeler. A crane was brought in to lift the tree off of the truck cab so that the area would be safe for emergency workers to reach Mr. O’Neil.

Other crews worked to clean up the crates of lettuce which fell out of the trailer and littered the section of the Thruway. The tractor trailer’s fuel tank was also damaged and diesel fuel spilled out onto the roadway. The NY Department of Environmental Conservation Spill Response Unit was at the truck accident scene to clean up the fuel.

State Police shut down the Thruway section between Interstate 81 and the Carrier Circle exits due to the accident. The eastbound lane remained closed for several hours while the truck accident scene was cleared and the damaged 18-wheeler removed.

The truck accident remains under investigation and authorities have not yet determined why the truck driver lost control of his rig and left the highway. No charges have been brought at this time.

STREET VIEW

Below is a Google street view of the New York State Thruway between Rt 81 and Carrier Circle. You can click the mouse button and drag it around to pan around the scene of the accident.

View Larger Map

Related searches:
Syracuse Truck Accident Lawyers
Albany NY Truck Accident Attorneys