BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Police are sharing more information about the crash that killed three people Monday afternoon on Genesee Street.
2 On Your Side also got some insight on how crash scene investigations actually work and why some can take so long to complete.
Police scene tape is what remains in a field near the intersection of Genesee and Kilhoffer Street. But on Monday debris and the wreckage of two vehicles covered that area from a triple fatal collision involving a black minivan and a silver sedan.
While they are still working on identities and family notification, police do now say a 38-year-old man from Niagara Falls was at the wheel of the minivan which struck the sedan in this 30 mile per hour speed zone.
Captain Jeff Rinaldo says "we know that the black minivan may have been traveling in excess of 80 miles an hour. Nobody is prepared for a vehicle that's coming at 80 plus miles an hour head on towards you. It leaves you very little room to react to that."
The male driver of the black minivan was killed, along with the 67-year-old man driving the silver sedan and an 18-year-old female passenger in the back seat of the sedan.
Another passenger from the sedan, an 18-year-old man, is hospitalized in fair condition.
A 61-year-old male is also listed in fair condition after he was struck by flying debris, apparently from one of the vehicles. Store surveillance video caught part of the collision.
Rinaldo points out "the force of the impact was so great that both vehicles broke intro multiple pieces...I believe one of the vehicles...the engine actually came out."
Investigators stress that while the accident was terrible enough, the carnage could have been much greater considering it happened at one o'clock in the afternoon on busy Genesee Street which is a commercial corridor.
Rinaldo says "the accident happened in front of a busy store - there could have been more people on the street. The vehicles could have wound up colliding into the parking lot - other vehicles on the street, buildings."
There was a rumor was put to rest by officers regarding a person seen running near or from the vehicles.
"They were able to determine that was not accurate. It was actually somebody that came up to the vehicle - attempting to assist and ran away from the vehicle to go get help," said Captain Rinaldo.
While police accident investigators do have this initial information, their formal probe is a painstaking process which could take months to resolve.
"We're trying to put together the greatest picture we can of what lead up to this event. And again the more information we're able to gather the clearer it will make the events of that afternoon and potentially try and give some closure to the families," Rinaldo said.
This will be a focused investigation involving an accident reconstruction like other recent crashes.
Some similar recent crashes include the case of the minivan striking the McKinley Monument in Niagara Square on Thanksgiving, which killed the female passenger. The male driver is still recovering.
Then last year there was the South Buffalo crash involving a luxury sports car which killed two people and left the sports car's driver facing manslaughter charges.
There probably won't be charges in this Genesee Street crash as both drivers died.
But Rinaldo says again an investigation is underway with elements like the vehicles' event recorders which are similar to the black boxes used for plane crash investigations.
"These are very sophisticated computers that keep a record of everything from speed, seat belt use, lights - you name it," Rinaldo said.
Then, there is the recovery and the actual position documentation of all pieces of the vehicles to help determine more about their direction and the impact.
And of course, investigators examine surveillance camera video. They will also check records and evidence regarding the drivers of the vehicles involved to determine if there was any substance abuse or potential medical condition which could contribute to the crash.
"You have to wait for toxicology which can take weeks and weeks and weeks. You have to wait for the event data recorders to be downloaded. For the reconstruction to be completed. They are very complex investigations," Rinaldo said.
Buffalo Police also request anyone who saw the crash on Genesee Street or has other information about it to contact their confidential Tipline at 716-847-2255.
