Sep 18, 2009 6:04 am US/Eastern
Cops: Another Drunk, Wrong-Way Driver On Taconic
Henry Garcia, 19, Accused Of Driving In Wrong Direction With Blood-Alcohol Three Times The Legal Limit
Reporting
Lou Young
MOUNT PLEASANT, N.Y. (CBS) ―
There's a disturbing trend on a local parkway – a series of wrong-way driving incidents that just keep on happening.
For the third time this summer, police have had to respond to a motorist driving head-on into high-speed traffic.
Early Thursday morning, 19-year-old Henry Garcia, of Ossining, was pulled over, apparently drunk, while barreling along in the wrong direction on the Taconic State Parkway.
It's the same thing 44-year-old Bronx resident Gregorio Pena is accused of doing last week.
Both incidents are grim echoes of the disastrous wrong-way accident that led to the death of Long Islander Diane Schuler, along with seven others, more than a month ago.
Westchester motorists are starting to see the frightening trend.
"Of course it's alarming," Bedford Village resident Cynthia McDonald said. "I think it's terrible."
Police sources say there's been a rash of wrong-way drivers, both sober and drunk, but Thursday's incident appears to be pretty clear-cut. In the area where authorities believe Garcia got onto the parkway, there's a clearly marked sign for the Taconic.
One has to wonder how drunk someone would have to be to drive for seven miles along a highway, and not notice that the signs are all facing the wrong way.
Garcia apparently didn't realize he was driving the wrong way until police cars came toward him in the other direction. Then, he tried to make a U-turn.
"He was a 0.27, which is three times the legal limit," NY State Police Lieutenant Doug Larkin said.
However, it seems that lately, the Taconic's old signs and ramps are a magnet for wrong-way motorists. Many people are happy that the Department of Transportation is taking a closer look at the parkway.
"Some of the signs are misplaced sometimes," Ossining resident Tim Hill said. "I've made the mistake, and I wasn't drunk."
"DOT has been looking at the signage since the Schuler accident in August, and we're going to advise them of this incident last night," Lt. Larkin said.
State police say drivers, though, have the responsibility to stay attentive – and sober – on the road.
In addition to being drunk and unlicensed, Henry Garcia told police he's entered the country illegally from Guatemala. He's being held on $100,000 bail.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
World's Most Useless Facts
Click to enlarge
BONA FIDE WINTER BLAST 10 mins ago 
Despite New Storm, NJ Crews Still Restoring Power 3 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments