2 men injured, another charged in New York car accident

A man is facing serious charges following a single car crash in the Town of Milan on July 7, according to local sources. New York police arrested the 25-year-old man following a car accident that sent his passenger to the emergency room. He faces numerous charges, though no court date has yet been announced. 

According to the accident report, the man was heading east on Route 308 when he somehow lost control of his vehicle, crashing into a traffic light support pole sometime around 7:30 a.m. One of his two passengers, also a 25-year-old man, needed to be extricated from the wreck of the vehicle before being airlifted to a local hospital in critical condition. The driver and the other passenger were also injured but were taken by regular ambulance. 

Police believe the driver was under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash. As a result, he now faces charges of felony second-degree vehicular assault and driving while impaired by drugs. He was treated and released from the hospital into police custody, but it is unclear if he is still in custody at this time. A court date will be forthcoming. 

Driving under the influence of drugs can lead to tragedy, as it very nearly did in the case of this car accident. While no one was killed in this crash, New York law states that the injured parties in the vehicle are entitled to file personal injury suits against the driver in addition to the criminal charges he already faces. Civil suits use police evidence to strengthen their cases in civil court. 

Source: poughkeepsiejournal.com, “Driver charged after Pine Plains man injured in Milan crash“, John Ferro, July 7, 2016