Please sign the Change.org petition then write the DOT office. Address and phone number listed on petition.
Below was shared by an officer on the scene to the accident last night near pine Bush
Shortly after leaving my family’s Christmas celebration last night, I came upon the worst accident I’ve ever encountered at the intersection of Route 52 and County Hwy 17. A fully occupied SUV and a sedan collided at operating speed. The SUV rolled, and the entire family inside became entrapped with serious injuries. The sole occupant of the other vehicle also sustained significant injury.
Several passerbys assisted in helping to free two young children from the vehicle prior to Emergency personnel arrival. Once Fire and PD arrived, it took over an hour to cut the remaining occupants out, with Fire, Police and EMS from all over the County working feverishly.
To those of you that jumped in to help, thank you very much. That was a rough scene, and no one even hesitated. I’ve been a Police Officer for 20 years. A scene like that is intimidating to me, and I’ve seen just about everything, so to a civilian that’s not used to dealing with situations like that, I can only imagine how scary it could be, but you acted selflessly anyway. You are to be commended.
So why the long post? I think that anyone that’s lived in the area for any amount of time would agree that it’s time to do something about that intersection. A regular traffic light won’t work there due to the crest of the hill on 52. So in my professional opinion, the solution is a blinking red/amber light.
In honor of those injured last night, and all of those that have been injured or died in collisions at that intersection, I am encouraging you to take a few minutes over the next few days and write a letter to NYS DOT petitioning a traffic study of the intersection and a request for a better traffic control device. In my experience, the only way to bring change in a situation like this is to make some noise. Let’s get together as a community and do that.
Contact information for the regional office is:
Eleanor Roosevelt State Office Building
4 Barnett Boulevard
Poughkeepsie NY 12603
Attn: Regional Traffic Engineer
Let’s do something, together, so that the intersection becomes safer, and so that incidents like last night’s can become a thing of the past.