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Driver cited following four-vehicle accident on Route 5

By Howard B. Owens

A driver involved in a four-car accident on Route 5 on Friday was cited for allegedly following too closely.

The accident was reported at 3:18 p.m. near Stegman Road, Batavia.

Marla Mugler, 26, was issued a traffic citation.

Mugler along with her passengers, Madison Chatley, 7, Colby Tyoe, 4, and Bryon Tyoe II, 7, were taken by Mercy EMS to UMMC for evaluation.

No other injuries were reported. 

The other drivers were David R. Foley, 55, of Jackson Street, Batavia, Rebecca M. Henning, 32, of South Main Street, Batavia, and Ann C. Moquin, 79, of Pratt Road, Batavia.

According to the report by Deputy Kevin McCarthy, Moquin was stopped on eastbound Route 5 to initiate a left turn onto Stegman Road. Henning was also eastbound and was coming to a stop behind Moquin's vehicle when it was struck by Mugler's vehicle. It was pushed to the left of the lead vehicle and sideswiped that vehicle. Foley's vehicle was also eastbound and was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.

Accident diagram from McCarthy's report:

Ed Hartgrove

That's a very good question, Alvin. From the explanation given here, it would seem that Mr. Foley was, indeed, following close enough that he couldn't avoid hitting the car in front of him (which, I believe, is the definition of "following too close").

According to Howard's post, Ms."Moquin was stopped on eastbound Route 5  to initiate a left turn onto Stegman Road."
Just wondering why someone would stop in the middle of Rt.5?

I remember getting a ticket back in the 60's for "stopping on pavement". I had pulled over on Rt. 20A to pick up two girls I knew from Perry. They were walking home from Sansabarn. I pulled as far to the right as I could safely do, but approx. half-a-tire was on the macadam. And, THERE was the Sheriff's dept. Of course, when I went to court, and explained to the judge what had happened, he said (and I can pretty much quote him to this day), "When are you kids gonna learn? The cops want that place (Sandsabarn) closed down, and they're looking for any reason to pull you over!"
As that judge would be over 100 by now, I can safely say he sided with me, and set a 'court date' for the following week, 7:00 pm SHARP. He said, "If the arresting officer doesn't show up, I'll find you not guilty".
And, I said that the officer probably would be there, to which the judge told me, "Trust me. I'm gonna make sure he's on the other side of the county at 7:00 pm. You just be here.
I was, and, he did!

Mar 30, 2015, 9:13pm Permalink

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