A car collision in North Granville on Feb. 1 left a Hartford woman hospitalized with a broken right clavicle and a Granville woman ticketed for failing to yield the right of way, State Police said.
At around 3 p.m., Sheena Galusha, 37, was injured at the intersection of County Route 17 and State Route 40 while traveling northbound when her 2011 Kia Sorrento was struck by Kristie Coon, 50, of Granville, who was traveling west on County Route 17.
“Coon attempted to cross the intersection and struck the (passenger) side of the vehicle,” State Police said.
Galusha spoke with NYVTmedia via phone and said in addition to her injuries and being in a lot of pain, one of her two 10-year-old girls was bruised and burned from the deployment of the airbag. The other 10-year-old girl was just sore, Galusha said.
“I was heading northbound towards the State Trooper barracks and the other driver T-boned me,” Galusha said. “I don’t know if the sun got in her face, it was pretty sunny, but I believe she had ran past the stop sign and hit my passenger side.”
State Police said Coon was not injured and Galusha noted both vehicles were totaled.
“She (Coon) did come over to see if we were okay,” Galusha said.
Galusha mentioned how family members pick on her for driving like a “grandma” but said she feels lucky to not be more severely injured at a junction she uses daily that has seen multiple accidents in recent months.
“If I was doing 55 MPH, I probably would have ended up flipping my car,” she said.
When asked if the Granville Town Board has considered reducing the speed limit on either road (40 MPH on County Route 17 before and after stop sign, 55 MPH on State Route 40 with no stop sign) or installing a traffic light, Granville supervisor Matt Hicks said that specific junction is controlled by the state Department of Transportation.
“That is the intersection of a county and state road, the town has no influence or jurisdiction of that intersection,” Hicks said. “I think the speed limit on County Road 17 is less than 55 MPH and there are stop signs at the junction of State Route 40. NYS DOT controls all of that.
“Even if the town wants to change a speed limit on a town road, we have to apply to DOT to do it. They then do a survey and decide if a change is needed and what that change is. We do not even have jurisdiction rule over our own roads.”
Galusha said she was grateful for the quick response of first responders and even bystanders who looked after her children while she was being assessed by medical personnel.
“First responders were there within 10-15 minutes. Everyone was very helpful,” Galusha said. “There were a couple of good Samaritans checking in on my kids.”
