Serious accident on S. Transit

Local News

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LANDING: A Mercy Flight helicopter prepares for touch down in the Big Lots parking lot on South Transit Road on Thursday afternoon. A motorcyclist and his female passenger were seriously injured when they were struck by a passenger truck. A second Mercy Flight helicopter can be seen on the ground, at the extreme right. Rob Stutz

October 25, 2012

Serious accident on S. Transit

Anonymous Lockport Union-Sun & Journal The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Fri Oct 26, 2012, 11:05 AM EDT

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal — Two people were seriously injured in a collision involving a motorcycle and full-size SUV in front of the Value Home Center Plaza on South Transit Road at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

The motorcylist and his female passenger were flown to Erie County Medical Center by two Mercy Flight helicopters. The middle-aged couple were not identified by the State Police who were first to respond to the accident. The driver of the 2007 GMC Yukon was not injured.

Traffic was reduced to one lane on Transit Road for more than three hours.

According to the State Police report, the GMC Yukon was stopped, northbound in the center turning lane, in front of the plaza. A 1975 Harley Davidson motorcycle was traveling southbound on South Transit Road when the GMC Yukon turned left from the center lane across the southbound lane.

The SUV and motorcycle collided causing the operator and passenger of the Harley Davidson to be thrown from the motorcycle and into the grass. Both were seriously injured and taken by South Lockport and City of Lockport ambulances to the Big Lots Plaza and lifted onto Mercy Flight. They were flown to ECMC where there condition was not released at press time.

The operator of the GMC Yukon did not receive any medical treatment at the scene.

“I heard the crash about 12:30 and two seconds later I saw the truck move in the road,” said George Osgood the manager of Value. When he went outside he saw the motorcycle and the victims in the grass.

The woman wasn’t moving, but gasping for air. She had a serious head injury. The man had an extreme leg injury which was bleeding profusely. County Sheriff Deputy Paul Harrer provided a tourniquet around the almost completely amputated leg of the driver.

The front end of the SUV was crushed and the motorcycle was almost completely cut in half. It landed in the grassy area of the driveway.

Advance Life Support was used at the scene to try and stabilize both victims for their helicopter ride to ECMC.

The State Police were assisted at the scene by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Lockport Police Department, Rapids and South Lockport Fire Departments.

Chief Derek Caldwell of South Lockport Volunteer Fire Company brought in mutual aid. “One had a serious leg injury. It was pretty severe,” Caldwell said. “We treated the lady with the head injury.”

The State Police reconstructed the accident while traffic was directed to one lane. The accident is under investigation.