ATHENS — An out-of-state driver died Thursday morning after he suffered a medical emergency on the New York State Thruway in Athens, Tara McCormick, public information officer for state police Troop T said.
Peter A. Graziano, 71, of Antrim, New Hampshire, was killed, according to the state police media blotter.
The incident was initially reported as a traffic accident because passing motorists saw the car off the road into the median, McCormick said.
At about 5:19 a.m., Greene County 911 sent Athens Fire Department, Catskill Ambulance and Greene County Paramedics to the southbound lane in the area of mile marker 116, after receiving reports of a possible crash at that location.
A car driven south by Graziano left the highway on the east shoulder of the road, coming to rest in the center median, McCormick said.
Crews arrived on the scene and paramedics began performing CPR on Graziano.
The life-saving measures were not successful and Graziano was pronounced dead at the scene, McCormick said.
The cause of death was not immediately known and police did not release additional details about the accident.
A Life Net helicopter placed on stand-by was not needed.
Traffic through the area was restricted while crews worked and while the state police investigation took place.
Thursday’s incident was the first death on the New York State Thruway in Greene County in 2022.
In July 2021, a West Coxsackie man was killed when the pickup truck he was driving, rear ended another vehicle on the Exit 21A ramp in Coeymans.
The most serious accident on the Thruway in Greene County this year, occurred on Aug. 24, when a van that was carrying 14 occupants, rolled over in the southbound lanes in Athens.
All 13 passengers were taken to area hospitals that night, including four downstate residents who were listed in critical condition.
Police said that crash occurred because the driver was attempting to avoid striking another vehicle that had swerved into his lane.