Driver hospitalized after crashing truck in woods
CENTERVILLE, N.Y. » The driver of a flatbed truck was speeding Wednesday morning when he failed to negotiate a curve on Route 212, went off the road and ultimately struck several trees and ended up in the woods, Saugerties police said.
Thomas Herschel, 61, of Malden-on-Hudson, was eastbound on Route 212 about 11:45 a.m. in a 2019 Western Star flatbed truck when he lost control of the vehicle and left the road near the intersection with Old Route 212, police said.
The truck, bearing the name of Herzog’s Home and Design Center in Kingston, went off the south shoulder of the road, traveled about 175 feet and struck a road sign before re-entering the road, crossing into the westbound lane of Route 212 and continuing north into a heavily wooded area just east of the Southpeak Veterinary Hospital, according to a police press release. The truck came to rest in the woods after striking several large trees, police said.
Herschel was treated at the scene by emergency medical personnel from the Centerville Fire Department and paramedics from Diaz Ambulance and was to HealthAlliance Hospital’s Broadway Campus in Kingston for treatment of back and chest injuries, police said.
They said he was ticketed for speeding.
The westbound lane of Route 212 near the crash scene was closed for about two hours, and removing the truck from the woods required heavy-duty towing equipment, police said.