A truck driver drove 40 feet off the New York State Thurway in Rosendale this morning and was flown to Westchester Medical Center with serious leg and chest injuries, according to a New York State Police press release.
Sixty-two-year-old Ralph Rickert, of Nassau, New York, was driving southbound in a tractor-trailer that was hauling a backhoe when the accident occurred. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Read the full press release from the New York State Police below.
TRUCK ACCIDENT IN THE TOWN OF ROSENDALE
PRESS RELEASE
On 12/27/11 at 7:49 AM, Troop T, SP Kingston, investigated a serious injury accident on the New York State Thruway southbound in the Town of Rosendale, Ulster County, NY. A truck/trailer owned by Sunnyside Garage, Castleton, NY was hauling a backhoe and operated by Ralph Rickert, age 62, Nassau, NY. The truck drove off the right shoulder striking trees that were approximately 40 feet from the roadway. Bloomington and Rosendale fire departments responded extricating the operator from the vehicle. The fire departments were assisted by members of the New York City DEP Police who were passing the scene en route to a training exercise. Rickert was treated at the scene by Mobile Life Ambulance and transported by Stat Flight to Westchester Medical Center with chest and leg trauma. The southbound lanes of the Thruway were closed for approximately 1/2 hour while the helicopter that landed in the lanes removed the patient. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
