Teen ticketed for driving drunk and texting while driving

Via MattarMedia - Generally speaking, multi-tasking is usually considered to be a positive thing. However, when you are driving, it's best to keep your focus on the road.

As reported by News Channel 2:

A Fredonia man was ticketed Saturday after he rolled his vehicle over and it was determined that he was texting and drunk.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a scene of a rollover motor vehicle accident around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Through further investigation, it was determined that Brandyn Lambe, 19, was texting while driving.

According to the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office, the texting caused him to become distracted which lead to his vehicle going off the road, through a ditch. The vehicle then flipped over several times, landing on its wheels in the opposite lane.

Once Police got to Lambe and treated him for his minor injuries, it was discovered that he was also intoxicated.

Please drink responsibly and don't text and drive.

New state law changes rules for teen drivers

Via MattarMedia SYRACUSE, N.Y. - There's a reason they call it "sweet 16." As you step closer to adulthood, part of that independence means getting behind the wheel, but it's about to get much harder for teens to cruise off once they blow out those birthday candles.


New York is putting a brake on that urge with a new law that kicks in on Monday. There's now a six month waiting period to take a road test if you're applying for a learner's permit. Teens must also log 50 hours of supervised driving.

"The majority of fatalities in teen crashes are those other than the teens so this is not just geared toward teen driver safety. It will be a benefit to all drivers and roadway users as a whole,” said Diana Dibble, AAA Public Affairs Manager.

New York already has a graduated driver's license system in place, which includes a mandatory defensive driving course, but many felt it could be better.

"Maybe with some longer driving sessions, with family and things of that nature and driving schools, they will see how dangerous it can be if they're trying to text and things of that nature where if a person gets their license right away, they may still be fairly uninformed,” said Jeffrey Baird, Able II Driving President.

In addition to requiring more experience, this new law is specifically looking to eliminate that kind of distracted driving. All electronics are banned and teens can now have only one non-family member with them in the car. Though this last point may be the most dreaded, this group of young drivers admit it may be necessary.

"I'll probably be left out in the cold because I've been bumming rides off my friends for a while and I'm sure they'll be happy to get rid of me,” said Paul O'Donnell, learner's permit driver.

"When you get a group of three or four teenagers in a car at a time, there's a lot of conversation and gossip going on I guess and it can be distracting definitely,” said Erin Callahan, learner's permit driver.

Other states that have implemented similar laws have seen a reduction in fatal crashes in 38%.

Teen Charged with DWI in Henrietta Crash

Via MattarMedia - Monroe County Sheriff's deputies charged a Rush teen with drunk driving after crashing into a utility pole early Thursday morning.

Deputies said Amanda Edd, 18, drifted off of West Henrietta Road just before 3 a.m. The vehicle went into and out of a drainage culvert and went airborne, striking a tree and utility pole.

The fire department had to cut Edd out of her vehicle.

She was taken to Strong Hospital with what the hospital describes as non-life-threatening injuries.

Man Sentenced After Bills Game Crash

via MattarMedia (BUFFALO NY) - A teenager who was driving drunk and hit seven people with his car after a Bills game, was sentenced to three to nine years Tuesday morning.

Nineteen-year-old Brandon McLean of Williamsville pleaded guilty in December.

He admits to hitting the victims, including three police officers and then driving off after a Bills game back in October.

New Teen License Rules for New York State

Starting at the end of this month, teenagers going for their drivers license will have higher hurdles to jump over.

Beginning February 22nd, new rules go into effect. Young drivers can't go for their license until 6 months after getting a permit.

Teens will have to get 50 hours behind the wheel, with 15 of those at night. Teens used to only need 20 hours.

Teens are also banned from using any portable electronic devices behind the wheel, and only one non-family member can be a passenger in the car at the time.

Teenage girl sentenced in DWI fatality

Via MattarMedia LOCKPORT— Ashley M. Sullivan is in the Niagara County Jail today, and Facebook may be to blame as much as the car crash that killed a Niagara Falls man.

Sullivan, 17, of Linden Avenue, North Tonawanda, was sentenced Wednesday to six months in the County Jail and five years’ probation for crashing her car while drunk and killing her boyfriend May 30 on Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda.

She pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to criminally negligent homicide and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.

The Buffalo News has learned that Sullivan went to Florida a month after the crash and posted a photo on her Facebook Web page captioned, “Drunk in Florida.”

“I’m troubled by your conduct since the crash,” County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III told Sullivan, “and that’s the reason for the jail sentence.”

Murphy also refused to grant Sullivan youthful offender status for the same reason.

“I don’t believe the defendant has earned it,” the judge said.

Murphy, in reading the terms of probation, went out of his way to emphasize to Sullivan that she isn’t allowed to drink for the next five years.

“You’re 17 years old. You’re not old enough to drink,” Murphy said.

When defense attorney Glenn Murray said in court, “This young woman is remorseful,” someone laughed among a crowd of more than two dozen of the victim’s friends and relatives, drawing a reprimand from the judge.

Sullivan was drunk at 2:21 a. m. May 30, when she crashed her car into a brick pillar in front of Deerwood Golf Course. Her blood alcohol content was measured at 0.13 percent — the legal standard for intoxication is 0.08 percent—and her speed was estimated at 56 mph in a 30-mph zone.

Her boyfriend and passenger, Alex Rozicki, 20, of Niagara Falls, was killed.

“They say he died on impact. Sometimes I hear him screaming and then, silence,” Renee Rozicki, the victim’s mother, said in court. “I wonder if he felt any pain or fear.”

She said her son was a huge Buffalo Sabres fan and was buried with his Sabres jersey.

“Alex was an organ donor. He thought that from an early age that if anything happened to him, he could leave parts behind to give somebody a better life,” his mother said.

Deputy District Attorney Theodore A. Brenner said Renee Rozicki told a probation officer during the presentencing investigation that she would prefer a split sentence combining jail with probation.

“That’s awfully decent of her,” Brenner said, adding that the family opposed youthful-offender status.

Murphy, who could have sentenced Sullivan to up to four years in state prison, said his decision was difficult “because of the defendant’s extreme youth and her past history.”

He ordered that after Sullivan gets out of jail, she will be under electronic home monitoring for a year. He also revoked her driver’s license.

“My client failed to consider the consequences, the tragic consequences,” Murray said. “This offender understands the tragedy she is responsible for. She will never forgive herself.”

He said Sullivan had decided not to speak at the sentencing, although when Murphy asked her, Sullivan managed to say, “I’m very sorry,” before breaking down in tears.

The Rozicki family is expected to file a wrongful death suit against Sullivan. Attorney Robert Viola of Niagara Falls is handling that case.

Accident in Lewiston Leaves One Seriously Injured

Via MattarMedia LEWISTON, NY - A 17-year old Youngstown driver was seriously injured after his car slammed into a Department of Transportation truck. The accident happened Thursday afternoon on the Robert Moses Parkway just north of Lewiston.

"Iit appears from our preliminary investigation the dot truck was part of a work crew it had another vehicle travelling in front of it they were doing patch work so they were travelling a slow rate of speed when the other vehicle came up behind it and struck the dump truck from behind", Sgt. Frank Previte of the Lewiston Police Department told Eyewitness News.

17 year-old driver Michael Gifford was taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC with leg and chest injuries. Police believe the cause of the accident may have been distracted driving.

"The preliminary investigation does indicate to us that he did not see or was distracted by something else because we did not find any skid marks or tire marks where there's obvious braking he did hit it at a fairly good rate of speed", said Sgt. Previte.

According to AAA driver inattention is a factor in more than 1 million crashes in north america annually, resulting in serious injuries, deaths and an economic impact reaching nearly $40 billion per year.

Triple-A also says using a cell phone while driving has been found to quadruple your risk of crashing.

"The operator also did have a cell phone that we found close to him in his proximity but we're not sure if an electronic device may have been involved either "texting" or cell phone we are in the process of checking those records to see what the timing is on that", Sgt. Previte said.

Last year state lawmakers made it illegal to text while driving, but even with the new law cellphones and texting continue to be a major cause of accidents.

"Preliminarily, we do believe there was some activity on that phone around that time", said Sgt. Previte.

Two teens injured in Annsville crash

Via MattarMedia ANNSVILLE - Two teenagers were injured Tuesday when the car they were traveling in struck a mailbox and then a tree along Taberg Florence Road, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office said.

Nicholas Anagnos, 18, of Camden was northbound at about 4:40 p.m. Tuesday when he lost control of his SUV on a curve and left the roadway. Anagnos’ vehicle then struck a mailbox and overturned twice before coming to rest against a tree, deputies said.

Both he and his passenger, 18-year-old Megan Ammann of Camden, were transported to Rome Memorial Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, deputies said.

Speed and wet road conditions were factors in the accident and both parties likely would have sustained serious injuries if not for the use of their seatbelts, deputies said.

State police assisted at the scene.

Teen faces DWI charge after crashing stolen car

Via MattarMedia NEW HARTFORD - A 17-year-old Utica youth was charged with driving while intoxicated early Wednesday after he was involved in a car accident using a stolen vehicle, New Hartford police said.

In addition to DWI, Colin Cha was charged with driving without a license, passing a red light, and leaving the scene of a property damage motor vehicle accident, Officer Matthew Sica said. He also was arrested for criminal possession of stolen property, a felony.

Police were called to the corner of Oneida Street and Kellogg Road about 1:49 a.m. Wednesday in response to a two-car accident, Sica said. While en route to the scene, police were advised that a male driver of one of the vehicles had fled on foot.

Responding officers checked the area and located Cha a short distance away, Sica said. Cha was later identified as the operator of the vehicle that was traveling south on Oneida Street when it passed through a red light and struck a vehicle driven by Sergey Zaishnikov, 22, of Utica, Sica said.

Cha did not own the vehicle he had been driving, Sica said, but further investigation revealed that the vehicle had been stolen from a Seward Avenue residence in Utica over night.

Cha was arraigned in New Hartford Town Court and sent to the Oneida County jail on bail, Sica said. He is due to return to court at a later date.

Teen driver ticketed in crash

Via MattarMedia Jamesville (WSYR-TV) – A teenage driver has been ticketed for causing a crash Monday evening along 481 South in Jamesville.

Police say Robert Dwyer, 17, of Syracuse, was headed south on Route 481 and was about a mile south of the Jamesville Road exit when he struck an SUV in its rear driver’s side door, causing both vehicles to spin into the median.

Police say Dwyer was speeding at the time of the crash; he was taken to University Hospital with minor injuries. The SUV driver was not hurt.

Dwyer has been ticketed for speeding and an unsafe lane change.