1 Dead, 1 Injured In Southern State Parkway Wrong-Way Crash
WEST ISLIP, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- One driver was killed and another critically injured in a head-on collision on the Southern State Parkway.
The crash happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday east of Exit 43A in Islip Terrace.
Travis Sloboda, 24, of East Islip, was killed when his car, a 1993 Subaru, was struck by a 2004 Buick that was driving the wrong way in the eastbound lanes of the parkway, police said.
The driver of the Buick, 63-year-old Edward Ogden, of Bay Shore, was taken to Southside Hospital in critical condition.
Sloboda's mother, Janet Sloboda, said troopers told her it may have been too foggy for her son to see a car coming at him.
"It was the fogginess," she told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera. "Never knew what hit him, unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately because they said he probably didn't feel anything."
Sloboda was a medical office worker and was on his way home from his girlfriend's house.
"He was always there for me and now he won't be and that is something I don't know how I am going to deal with," Janet Sloboda told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan. "He was my only child and he made his presence known. He always took care of me."
New York State police said Ogden recently moved to Bay Shore and was returning home Tuesday night from Valley Stream, where he was at a GED class.
The Bethlehem Assembly of God in Valley Stream, where a GED class was scheduled at 6 p.m. Tuesday evening, confirmed Ogden is associated with the church.
"He is a very good and kind man" said Araselis Fraser, an assistant to Pastor Steve Milazzo. "Everybody is praying for him."
Motorists reported fog setting in at 10 p.m., and complained that the Southern State is filled with construction barrels and detour signs near ramps between exits 43 and 45 that might have confused Ogden, McLogan reported.
"He was a wrong-way driver going the wrong way on the parkway. I have made that mistake before. I, thankfully, didn't hurt anybody, only went a short distance," friend Nick Lopergalo said.
Friends and neighbors described Ogden as a gentle, honest man who volunteers as a deacon in several Long Island churches. They told McLogan they knew of no pre-existing medical condition that might have caused his behavior.
"It is very sad and I guess you have to wait until all the facts are in before judging one way or the other," neighbor Patricia Civitano said.
Some in the community were demanding clearer signs that flash at night on ramps, and pavement markings to warn parkway drivers, McLogan reported.
The tragedy occurred less than 24 hours after two 19-year-old Queens men died in a crash on the parkway in Nassau County.
Charges were not immediately filed in connection with Tuesday's crash. Drug and alcohol tests were pending and the investigation into the crash was ongoing.
Police are asking anyone with information about the crash to call 631-756-3300.
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