An 85-year-old Syracuse man died days after a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Oswego Road and Liverpool Bypass Road in Salina, and investigators have now reversed their initial explanation of what caused it. Troopers first said Gary S. Zimmer failed to yield while turning left. A later reconstruction determined that the other driver was going roughly double the posted speed limit when the vehicles collided.
The crash happened around 1:25 p.m. on Sept. 3, according to LocalSYR. Zimmer was driving a 2015 Lexus south on Oswego Road and attempting to turn left onto Liverpool Bypass Road when it collided with a northbound 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe driven by 21-year-old Dadiri S. Abdi, also of Syracuse, as reported by CNY Central.
Investigators initially determined that Zimmer failed to yield the right of way while trying to turn left and was not wearing his seatbelt, according to syracuse.com. That early account matched what Newport Dispatch and other outlets reported in the days immediately following the wreck.
Reconstruction Unit Points to Speed
A subsequent investigation concluded that Abdi's excessive speed was the primary cause of the crash, per the same syracuse.com report. Data pulled from the Hyundai showed the vehicle was traveling around 67 mph in a 30 mph zone moments before the collision, nearly double the posted limit at that stretch of road.
The findings mark a shift from the state's own early framing. The New York State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit determined that excessive speed by the Hyundai was the primary contributing factor in the crash, reversing the initial focus on Zimmer's turn, the agency said in a statement attributed to a subsequent investigation. Investigators added that the collision could have been avoided had the Hyundai not been speeding while approaching the intersection, according to the station's report.
Zimmer Died Days Later; Wife Also Hospitalized
Gary Zimmer and his wife, Patricia Zimmer, 84, were both taken to Upstate University Hospital with serious injuries, syracuse.com reported. Gary Zimmer died at the hospital on Sept. 9, nearly a week after the crash. Reports differ on Patricia Zimmer's condition following the crash: syracuse.com described her injuries as serious, while CNY Central reported that her condition had not been released.
Charges Filed, Court Date Set
Abdi was charged with criminally negligent homicide, a class E felony, in connection with Zimmer's death. Under New York Penal Law, as published by the New York State Senate, a person is guilty of criminally negligent homicide when, with criminal negligence, he causes the death of another person. Abdi was also charged with related traffic infractions and was released on an appearance ticket returnable to Town of Salina Court, with a scheduled appearance on Nov. 12.
