Loose Tire Sets Off Deadly Chain-Reaction Crash in New York

Authorities say a chain-reaction crash that claimed the life of a Rochester-area town highway employee started with a vehicle losing one of its tires.

The Ontario County Sheriff’s Office says a pickup truck was traveling on Route 96 in the town of Farmington early Tuesday afternoon when it lost a tire near an intersection. The tire headed toward a truck loaded with six tons of grain, forcing the driver to hit his brakes.

The grain truck started to tip over, then hit a truck from the highway department in the neighboring town of Hopewell. Deputies say the driver of the town truck was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name hasn’t been released.

Another vehicle hit the overturned grain truck. Two people in one of the other vehicles suffered non-life-threatening injuries.