Latest accident on Route 17 leaves one dead, three injured, including two children

Chester — The New York State Police in Monroe investigated a two-car fatal motor vehicle accident on State Route 17 in the Town of Chester on Wednesday, Jan. 17. According to the police, a 1995 Ford Explorer in the eastbound driving lane suddenly swerved left, crossing the eastbound passing lane, the grassy center median, and the westbound passing lane. The Explorer then struck a 2005 Ford Explorer in the westbound driving lane. The driver of the 1995 Explorer was 45-year-old Colleen D. Banks of Middletown, who was pronounced dead by Orange County Coroner Thomas Murray. Her body was removed by the Flynn-Gannon Funeral Home to the Orange Regional Medical Center’s Arden Hill Campus for an autopsy, which was to be performed later on Wednesday. The westbound 2005 Ford Explorer was operated by 30-year-old Amy Fulton of Harriman, who was extricated from her vehicle by the fire departments of both Goshen and Chester. She was airlifted by a New York State Police helicopter to the Westchester Medical Center for treatment for her injuries. Her two children, four-year-old Madison Fulton and nine-month-old Charlotte Fulton, were taken to the Westchester Medical Center by the Kiryas Joel Ambulance Corps, according to the police. The accident investigation is continuing. The police are interviewing witnesses, and the Troop F Accident Reconstruction Unit was at the scene. The westbound lanes of State Route 17 were closed down for approximately three and a half hours before the reconstruction was completed and the vehicles removed. Traffic was backed up for miles, with many westbound drivers making illegal U-turns across the grassy median to get to the free-moving eastbound. Many eastbound drivers were forced to swerve to avoid these drivers. Much of the traffic from Route 17 west exited onto local roads, causing widespread congestion. The Town of Chester Police shut down exit 126 on-ramp at 9:45 a.m., shortly after the accident happened, according to police chief Brian Jarvis. Traffic quickly backed up on Route 17M through Chester, he said. This stretch of Route 17 has seen seven accidents caused by drivers crossing the median into oncoming traffic. The New York State Department of Transportation plans to put up a physical barrier to prevent these kinds of accidents.