Fatal crash and serious crash within 10 days

DUTCHESS COUNTY — Throughout the past two years of the pandemic, there have been fewer drivers reported on the roads. Yet one phenomenon that has emerged during this time is that there have been more vehicular accidents.

According to the U.S. Government’s Accountability Office, “The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that traffic fatalities during the first half of 2021 increased 18.4% since the first half of 2020. The estimated 20,160 fatalities during the first half of last year is the highest since 2006.”

Certainly locally there are regular reports of vehicular accidents from both the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) and the New York State Police (NYSP). Just within the span of 10 days last week there were two very serious crashes in the Hudson Valley, one fatal.

Authorities are advising drivers who take to the roads to use extreme caution.

Union Vale fatality

A driver lost his life in Union Vale, just outside of Millbrook, on Saturday, Feb. 12.

According to the DCSO, the one-car fatal crash took place at approximately 6:30 p.m. Deputies responded to the scene after getting a call about a serious crash that evening.

A preliminary investigation has shown that 28-year-old Union Vale resident Avinash Harrindranauth was probably speeding when he was driving a 2021 Audi Q5. He was traveling south on Verbank Club Road near North Clove Road when “he failed to negotiate a hillcrest and slight curve in the roadway,” according to the DCSO.

After failing to make the curve, Harrindranauth’s vehicle exited the roadway and struck a tree, stated the accident report.

Harrindranauth, who was the sole occupant, was transported to Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was later pronounced dead at the Poughkeepsie hospital.

DCSO Capt. John Watterson said the cause(s) of the crash is still under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau and Crash Investigation Unit.

“However, at this time, unsafe speed is thought to be a primary factor,” stated Watterson.

The DCSO was assisted at the scene by the NYSP, Union Vale Fire Department, LaGrange Fire Department and EMStar.

More information may be released as it becomes available, added Watterson.

Gallatin crash

Meanwhile, not too far away on the Taconic State Parkway in Gallatin, a woman had to be airlifted to Albany Medical Center, after having a serious accident with her sports utility vehicle.

Thirty-two-year-old Adriana Toma of Albany was driving southbound on the parkway on Monday, Feb. 21, in the Columbia County town of Gallatin outside of Pine Plains when her 2019 Dodge Durango reportedly drove off the roadway and struck a series of trees.

According to the accident report from the NYSP, the vehicle became airborne, flipped over and then landed in the center of the road.

It’s unknown at this time why Toma’s vehicle veered off the road.

She was flown to the hospital with multiple injuries; her condition was not  known as of press time.

There were two children who were reported to be in the vehicle with Toma at the time of the accident; they were both secured in car seats and uninjured.

The children were taken to Albany Medical Center to be examined as a precaution, according to the Milan Fire Department (MFD), which responded to the scene.

Along with the MFD, the Taghkanic Fire Company also responded to the scene at around 2:53 p.m. The crash happened in the southbound lanes near mile marker 75-5.

Emergency workers had to extricate the victims from the vehicle with the Jaws of Life.

It took much engineering to allow for the Life Net helicopter to land. Media on the scene reported that the helicopter initially tried to do so at Lake Taconic, but traffic jams forced it to change direction and land in the northbound lane on the parkway. That lane was closed for nearly half an hour, with police redirecting traffic to smaller, local roads.

Meanwhile, cars were reported to have been sitting stationary in the southbound lane. Many finally turned around and found other ways off the parkway.

The southbound lane was closed for hours while police investigated the accident scene and tried to determine a cause.

Assisting at the scene were Northern Dutchess Paramedics (NDP), Community Rescue Squad, NYSP and New York State Park Police.

The scene was cleared shortly after 5 p.m.

The cause of Toma’s accident has yet to be determined.