Elderly woman in critical condition after single-car accident in Clarkstown

NANUET – A serious motor vehicle accident on New Clarkstown Road in the early afternoon landed an elderly woman in the hospital and fighting for her life, according to Clarkstown Police.

Police were called to the scene of the accident at around 12:40 p.m., where they found a sedan crushed into a stand of trees on the east side of the roadway. A single occupant, an 80-year-old female from Spring Valley, was injured and trapped inside.

Eyewitness accounts suggested the vehicle was driving northbound before it veered into the southbound lane, swung northbound again, and ran over the curb and into a wooded patch of land where the driver’s side door was crumpled against the stand of trees.

Orange & Rockland personnel who were in the area at the time worked to clear tree branches from the car before members of the Spring Valley Fire Department could use the Jaws of Life to pry the vehicle open and rescue the occupant. The woman, whose name has not been released pending notification of her family, was taken to Nyack Hospital where she was listed as being in critical condition.

Investigators with the Clarkstown Police Accident Investigation Team are currently working to reconstruct the accident, but Clarkstown Police have already stated they believe a medical emergency might have been a contributing factor to the crash.