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One road-striping painter was killed and another one was injured early Tuesday (Nov. 16) when their work vehicle was sideswiped by a tanker truck on the Niagara Thruway in Buffalo, NY.
New York State Police said David Baldi, 27, of Hamburg, NY, was killed instantly as he and Timothy Brown, also 27, of Cherry Creek, NY, were working from the back of their paint truck just south of Interstate 190's Exit 4.
The crew was finishing touch-ups on its last night of work on the Thruway striping project, said Capt. Michael Nigrelli of the New York State Police Department.
Alerts Accompanied Crew
State Police said that two trucks had been preceding the striping crew with “arrow boards” alerting motorists to the workers in the right, southbound lane.
About 5:15 a.m., a tanker truck operated by Dale Hersh, 60, of Cohocton, NY, passed the arrow trucks but drifted back into the workers’ lane and clipped their truck from behind, police said.
Brown was hospitalized, but his injuries were not considered life threatening. Two other painters in the cab of the striping truck were not injured. Hersh was not injured, but was taken to an area hospital complaining of chest pains, state police said.
The tanker’s propane load was not compromised. The name of Hersh’s employer was not immediately available.
Several lanes were shut down for about five hours until the accident was cleared.
The painting crew worked for Accent Stripe Inc. of Orchard Park, NY, police said. A woman who answered the phone at the company on Tuesday said no one was available to comment.
Police are continuing to investigate and said criminal charges may be filed.
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