Fatal crash on Route 32 scene of many accidents



NEW SCOTLAND — A young driver and her passenger died last week after her car crashed into a barn along a stretch of road where many accidents have occurred.

Sonja Schwarz, 25, of the Capital District, with passenger Edward Jennings, 39, from the Bronx, was driving northbound on Route 32 in New Scotland at 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 23 when her 2004 Saturn sedan went off the road and struck a barn.

Jennings was pronounced dead at the scene by Albany County Coroner John Keegan. Schwartz was transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. Both had to be extricated from the vehicle.

Schwarz failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway due to unsafe speed and left the road by the east shoulder, according to State Police. Trooper Maureen Tuffey said both Schwarz and Jennings had been wearing seatbelts. The road was dry and the weather was clear, she said. Asked how unsafe speed was determined to be the cause of the accident, Tuffey said it was by evidence at the scene — by how badly the car was damaged, by how badly the building was damaged, and by skid marks.

There was no indication at the scene, Tuffey said, that drugs or alcohol were involved. State Police are waiting for toxicology tests from the autopsy, she said on Monday.

The accident occurred on Route 32, one-half mile north of LaGrange Lane, Tuffey said. A State Police building in New Scotland is just over one mile from the barn.

There are multiple curves along the hilly stretch between LaGrange Lane and Onesquethaw Creek Road, a street 1.5 miles to the north. Between the roads, six markers warn drivers of approaching bends and speed is reduced to 35, 40, and 45 miles per hour. South of LaGrange Lane and north of Feura Bush, the hamlet just north of the scene of the accident, the speed limit is 55 miles per hour.

Over the years, there have been many accidents up and down the road, according to Fred Spaulding, the chief of the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company. Spaulding, who was at the scene, said that, before entering the barn, rescuers had to first determine whether they could go in because the structure had been compromised. This week, new posts were in place to support the damaged corner of the empty barn.

The Albany County Sheriff’s Department, Albany County Paramedics, the Slingerlands Fire Department, and the Onesquethaw ambulance squad provided mutual aid.
"It was something that you deal with," Spaulding said of the danger of the barn collapsing. The rescuers needed to minimize the chance of any more injuries, to firefighters or other personnel.
As injuries become more severe, the level of intensity goes up for rescue workers, Spaulding said. With severe injuries, he said, "Time is of the essence."