Town of Onondaga, NY – An 86-year-old Syracuse woman was killed Monday morning when the car she was driving went out of control on the steep downhill slope of West Seneca Turnpike heading east into Syracuse, Sheriff Kevin Walsh said. The woman, whose identity was not released pending notification of relatives, was stopped in her Chevrolet Malibu shortly before 9...
Town of Onondaga, NY – An 86-year-old Syracuse woman was killed Monday morning when the car she was driving went out of control on the steep downhill slope of West Seneca Turnpike heading east into Syracuse, Sheriff Kevin Walsh said.
The woman, whose identity was not released pending notification of relatives, was stopped in her Chevrolet Malibu shortly before 9 a.m. at the traffic signal at the intersection of West Seneca Turnpike and South Avenue, poised to drive northeast down South Avenue, when the accident unfolded, Walsh said.
When the light changed, instead of starting down South Avenue, the Malibu went into the right-hand lanes leading down West Seneca Turnpike, Walsh said.
Her car clipped another vehicle and continued downhill, crossed the two oncoming lanes of traffic and went off the left side of the road. The vehicle rolled once or twice, then went airborne and hit a utility pole about halfway up, snapping it in two, Walsh said.
The woman was taken to Upstate University Hospital where she was pronounced dead, he said.
Investigators are at a loss to explain the driver’s actions in the moments before the accident, Walsh said.
“We're obviously waiting for a medical report, but I think there’s every possibility there was a medical issue of some sort,” he said. "There was no reason for her to go off the left side of the road."
The accident closed a section of West Seneca Turnpike for several hours to let utility crews make repairs.