Distracted Driving Blamed for Chain-Reaction Crash in Walton
Distracted driving is being cited in a four-car crash in Delaware County that further snarled traffic in a construction zone October 14.
Sheriff’s officials say 19-year-old Nathan Plante of Margaretville was driving south on State Highway 10 in Walton at around 11 a.m. when he didn’t notice traffic stopped in front of him in the construction area. Trying to avoid the stopped traffic, Plante veered into the oncoming lane, hitting a northbound car driven by 76-year-old James Zimmerman of Clemson, South Carolina. The teen’s vehicle hit another vehicle, driven by 37-year-old Jared Robinson of Walton that was stopped in the southbound lane. That vehicle then hit the car in front of it, driven by 59-year-old Robin Wagner of Tonawanda.
Plante was taken to Delaware Valley Hospital with possible internal injuries. The occupant of the second car, James and Maria Zimmerman, where not hurt. Robinson, the driver of the third vehicle, was taken to the hospital with a leg injury while his passenger, 41-year-old Scott Fitch was airlifted to Wilson Hospital in Johnson City with a possible spinal injury. Wagner and her passenger, 55-year-old Tammy Norris of Amherst, where not hurt.
Plante was ticketed for speeding and failure to keep right.