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Accident reported at 77 and Ledge, Alabama

By Howard B. Owens

A motor vehicle accident believed to be with injury is reported at Route 77 and Ledge Road.

Alabama fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE (by Billie) 10:45 a.m.: There is entrapment. The accident is blocking traffic. One vehicle has three adults and a child inside. A second ambulance is called. Three vehicles are involved, one of which is towing a small trailer.

UPDATE 10:49 p.m.: Indian Falls is called as mutual aid to provide traffic control, and aid with extrication if needed. Law enforcement is on scene.

UPDATE 10:52 a.m.: There is a total of four patients.

UPDATE 10:54 a.m.: Alabama commands reports there is no entrapment.

UPDATE 10:56 a.m.: A third ambulance is called in.

UPDATE 11:05 a.m.: The child's injuries are minor. One ambulance is going to Erie County Medical Center. Three patients, including a 75-year-old female, are being taken to UMMC.

UPDATE 11:42 a.m.: The two other patients bound for UMMC are a 2-year-old boy and a 42-year-old male. Indian Falls is back in service. Most, if not, all Alabama units have cleared the scene.

UPDATE 11:57 a.m.: The Alabama assignment is back in service.

Doug Yeomans

Ledge rd @ 77 seems to be one of those intersections that has seen its share of tragic accidents. Has the state or county performed a study there to see which way the accidents happen most of the time?

I travel through that intersection once or twice a month and the problems I observe are people unwilling to slow down on 77 in both directions for people trying to cross 77 or turn onto ledge. They love to pass on the right at full speed.

Just the other day I saw a tractor trailer northbound on 77 turn left onto ledge going WAY too fast and the trailer narrowly missed the large branch that overhangs the roadway.

Maybe the speed limit through that intersection in both directions should be reduced and frequently monitored for speeders and crazy drivers passing on the right through the intersection.

Sep 9, 2013, 11:13am Permalink
Samantha Pangrazio

Agreed with the above! I drive through the intersection almost every day as I commute to Buffalo. I witness people passing on the right full speed and often times, they don't see an oncoming vehicle that is trying to turn, and therefore barely avoid causing an accident. Something definitely needs to change at this intersection.

Sep 9, 2013, 12:00pm Permalink
tom hunt

People are dying for a cigarette. I would hate to see a blinking red/yellow caustion light at that intersection. But if that is what it takes to reduce the accident rate....so be it.

Sep 9, 2013, 12:17pm Permalink
Doug Yeomans

Tom, you think most of the traffic there is for cigarettes? I haven't smoked in 25 years last month and that's not why I go through there and it's not why Samantha Pangrazio goes through there. People can drive wherever they want to so even if they happen to be going to the rez for cigarettes, fuel, the restaurants, or for any other reason, it's irrelevant.

Why would you hate to see a blinking light there if that's what it takes to reduce fatalities and accidents? I'd be all for a light with a reduced speed zone and rumble strips in the road. Rumble strips have been used at many other intersections with great success, so I'm not sure why they're not used more often.

Sep 9, 2013, 1:23pm Permalink
tom hunt

Doug, congratulations on 25 smoke free years. I would hazzard a guess that the majority of the automobile traffic on Ledge Road is related to the multiple Smoke Shops/gas stations located there. I hate to see all these impediments to thru traffic on the NYS secondary highways. A couple of them come to mind: the 4 way stop on RT 262 on the way to South Byron and the State's proposal to place a round about ( rotatry) at the intersection of RT20 and East Road in Bethany ( see the above article).

Sep 9, 2013, 2:34pm Permalink
Raymond Richardson

I have a better idea Doug.

Traffic light.

Cars going north on 77 are approaching Ledge from around a bend and down a hill. Vehicles coming off Ledge, in either direction don't come to a complete stop as they're required to.

Put a traffic light in at the intersection to control traffic, and make it a No Turn On Red, intersection.

Sep 9, 2013, 8:55pm Permalink
Bob Price

No Light!!!! How many people on 77 do you think will run it???? Especially in the winter,when it's slick coming down the hill?? Rumble strips and continue the 40mph zone from Indian Falls to 1/2 mile north of the Ledge Rd.intersection. I went by that accident today-the one car on flatbed I saw leaving looked pretty crumpled,then the sedan in the yard of house on SE corner was missing front and rear bumpers it looked like(bumper was still wrapped around tree in yard) and the pickup was being loaded on flatbed-had a light on top,and a small red lettered plate above the license plate,so I believe it belonged to someone in a fire dept. Nasty intersection,especially in winter......

Sep 9, 2013, 9:20pm Permalink
Raymond Richardson

Extending the 40 MPH from Indian Falls to 1/2 mile north of Ledge Rd? How many people will abide by that?

At least the traffic light idea makes MORE sense.

Sep 10, 2013, 7:09am Permalink
Doug Yeomans

How many people will obey the limit? Probably the same percentage of drivers that obey limits already. How many people will be stopped for speeding? Probably the same percentage of drivers that are stopped for speeding anywhere else.

Traffic needs to be slowed down, and there needs to be enforcement of "no passing on the right though an intersection." Passing on the right is illegal for several reasons. People turning left and/or people waiting on the side road are in danger of being broadsided. That needs to end.

Sep 10, 2013, 8:14am Permalink

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