Personal Injury Law

Dangerous Roadway In Cortlandt Gets Safety Improvements

By Mark Siesel, Esq.

After four fatal car crashes since 2008, a stretch of Route 9 in Cortlandt from the Annsville Circle to the Putnam County border will now have rumble strips on the center of the road to provide warning to inattentive or sleepy drivers to prevent cross over accidents. The roadway, also known as Albany Post Road, is narrow and curvy with grades which obstruct sight distance, adding to the dangers. Since 2008, serious car accidents at this location have claimed the lives of a Canadian trucker, a deli manager, and a Peekskill City attorney, who died this past July when his car collided with another vehicle and rolled over near the ABC Deli.

Other improvements which the DOT has implemented to make the roadway safer include extending a 45 mph speed limit, flashing lights, new warning signs and pavement markings. Alcohol has been a contributing factor in one of the fatalities, with regard to the September 4, 2009 accident which took the life of Ralph Wood, a 56 year old Peekskill resident. The driver of the car that struck the vehicle Mr. Wood was a passenger in was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in November of this year.

I have traveled on Route 9 near the Annsville Circle on numerous occasions over the last 15 years since moving to the area. I have witnessed numerous near accidents, and have frequently encountered vehicles on my side of the road coming out of blind turns. The State's action was welcome and long overdue.

Full post as published by New York Legal Blog on December 16, 2010 (boomark / email).