all I know is what I saw
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 10:00AM 
Working to extract a child from a wreck • click to embiggenAs I was finishing up a round of golf, just before 6PM, in Lake Placid last evening, a virtual parade of emergency vehicles - fire trucks, ambulance / rescue trucks, state police cars, volunteer rescue / firemen in their personal vehicles - rushed past the golf course on their way out of town. After finishing the round, I got in the car and headed in the same direction, which is the only way home. A few miles down the road I came upon this scene.
A local newspaper had this account on their website this AM:
LAKE PLACID - A head-on collision Friday evening sent five people to the hospital and closed state Route 86 between Lake Placid and River Road for two hours, according to Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department members.
An Ashley's Carpet Cleaning van and a silver truck collided at about 5:40 p.m. at the corner of state Route 86 and River Road. Wilmington, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Keene volunteer fire departments, as well as state police, responded to the scene.
Two people were transported to Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh and three were transported to Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid. One victim, who was brought to CVPH, needed to be extricated from the vehicle by the Jaws of Life. The names and conditions of the victims were not available as of press time and state police had no further information.
My picture above depicts emergency personnel working at removing a victim - a child who appeared to be about 10 years old - from the wreckage.
As the article mentions, no details regarding the accident have been released. From all appearances, it seems that one vehicle or the other crossed over the centerline. As can be noticed in the picture, the red van did not appear to have braked - there are no skid marks of any kind in evidence. That said, no skid marks could be attributable to the fact that the road was damp from some rain that fell an hour or two prior to the accident.
Reader Comments (2)
Since I wasn't there, to see this with my own eyes, how can I be sure that this accident actually happened?
Well, Gravitas was late for dinner, but that is not too unusual.