A 47-year-old woman was struck and killed by a vehicle on French Road in New Hartford at approximately 6:20 a.m. Thursday. The collision happened between Chenango Road and Burrstone Road, shutting down a stretch of the road for hours while investigators worked the scene.
The New Hartford Police Department and the New York Mills Fire Department both responded to the crash, with the New York Mills Police Department also assisting the initial responding officers, according to Newport Dispatch. The pedestrian died as a result of the collision, and French Road was temporarily closed to traffic as collision investigators and evidence technicians from the New Hartford Police Department combed the scene, with the New York State Department of Transportation assisting with the roadway closures. The road has since reopened to all traffic.
Investigators have ruled out alcohol or drug impairment as a contributing factor in the crash, and the operator of the vehicle has been cooperative with police throughout the investigation, the same report notes. Authorities are withholding the identities of everyone involved, including the victim, pending notification of next of kin. The circumstances surrounding the collision remain under active investigation by New Hartford Police.
A Dangerous Stretch of Road Near Major Retail
French Road runs past the New Hartford Shopping Center.
Just down the road, the intersection of Burrstone Road and French Road was identified as the single most dangerous intersection in the Utica area in a report by Harding Mazzotti, recording 67 collisions and four serious injuries during a three-year study period from 2021 through 2023.
Second Fatal Pedestrian Crash in Oneida County This Month
Wednesday's crash marks the second fatal pedestrian collision in Oneida County within roughly a week. On October 8, a 56-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed by a utility van while walking on State Route 12 in the nearby town of Trenton, a crash Hoodline previously reported in which the driver stopped, called 911, and remained until law enforcement arrived.
State traffic safety records compiled by the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research show that pedestrians consistently account for nearly 25 percent of all traffic fatalities statewide in New York, a research organization based at the University at Albany that supports state highway safety programs. The pattern of early morning and pre-dawn roadway deaths has also touched Utica directly, where a woman died after her car hit a tree on South Street before dawn earlier this month.
Legal Standards Governing the Investigation
Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1146, drivers are legally required to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian or bicyclist on a roadway and must sound their horn when necessary to provide warning, according to Justia. That duty applies regardless of whether a pedestrian is crossing within a designated crosswalk.
Separately, state law dictates that any pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point other than within a marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection must yield the right of way to vehicles on the road, per FindLaw. Failure to yield by a pedestrian does not absolve a driver of the overarching duty of due care under state law. Whether the woman was crossing within a marked crosswalk or mid-block has not been disclosed, and investigators have not yet detailed how lighting conditions around 6:20 a.m. may have factored into the collision.
The investigation into Thursday's fatal collision remains ongoing, and no further details have been released.
