Two men -- 46-year-old Clifford Banks of East Branch, and 19-year-old Dalton Hills of Fishs Eddy -- were killed on Friday evening on River Road in Colchester, when the pickup truck Banks was driving ran off the road and struck an earth embankment. A load of bluestone in the back of the truck shifted and crushed the cab of the truck, killing both occupants instantly.
A press release from the Delaware County Sheriff's Department:
On 06/10/11, at approximately 6:45 PM, Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputies investigated a one car fatal motor vehicle accident which occurred earlier that day on River Road near the intersection with Fuller Hill Road, in the Town of Colchester. The vehicle, a Ford F250 Pickup, occupied by the operator, 46 year old Clifford Banks of East Branch, and passenger 19 year old Dalton Hills of Fishs Eddy, was traveling Northbound on Fuller Hill Road, when it failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection of Fuller Hill Road and River Road. The vehicle continued across River Road, leaving the roadway and continuing across a lawn, into a gully, then striking an earth embankment, coming to rest on the embankment. The vehicle had been carrying a load of blue stone, which shifted forward during the crash, crushing the cab of the vehicle. Both occupants of the vehicle were killed instantly. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. A blood alcohol test of the operator is pending, although alcohol involvement is not suspected.
