Cause of fatal crash in Bennington unknown
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By PATRICK McARDLE Rutland Herald Staff - Published: August 6, 2009
BENNINGTON – Police don't know what caused the accident on Route 9 that resulted in the death of a local man on Wednesday even though the Bennington Police Department's crash investigator happened to be a witness to it.
Harry J. Bishop, 70, of Bennington, was killed in the accident, according to Sgt. Lloyd Dean. There did not appear to be any other serious injuries as a result of the accident.
Bishop was driving east in a 2001 Saturn around 50 mph, which is the speed limit on that stretch of road, around 2:30 p.m.
Dean said he was driving to work in his own pickup, which was behind Bishop's car.
According to Dean, Bishop had just passed the intersection with Jewett Road and was on a straight stretch of Route 9 when he suddenly swerved.
Bishop "narrowly missed" a Mercedes-Benz that was driving west because the driver swerved to the right.
John Coligaris, 48, of Mechanicville, N.Y., was also driving west and also swerved but was unable to avoid a collision with Bishop's car.
Coligaris was treated at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington for life-threatening injuries and released. He said he had neck pain and abrasions from the seat belt and air bags.
Dean said he called in the crash, but some neighbors called for emergency responders at the same time.
According to Dean, Bishop died shortly after the crash. An autopsy is planned for today.
Bennington Rural Fire Department Chief Joseph Hayes said his department had to extricate Bishop from the car.
Route 9 has been the scene of two other fatalities in the last three months. At the end of May, John Thomayer, 57, of Bennington, was killed after his car collided with a car driven by Peter Rubin, 54, of Old Bennington.
Rubin received serious burns in the accident.
In June, Bennington Rescue Squad member Dale Long, 48, was killed after the ambulance he was driving ran off of Route 9 and hit a tree.
Dean said he had no reason to believe the stretch of Route 9, where all three crashes took place within a mile of each other, is particularly dangerous.
Police found evidence that Thomayer had been drinking before his crash, which is believed to have played a part in the collision. No cause has been discovered yet for the crash that killed Long, but there was no alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of the collision.
Dean said it was too early to determine what caused the accident that killed Bishop, but he saw no obvious problems when he witnessed the accident.
On Wednesday evening, Dean had no information of anything in Bishop's medical history that may have caused him to lose control of his car.
Bishop did not have a criminal history of driving offenses to Dean's knowledge.
There were no other drivers involved in Wednesday's accident and there were no passengers in the cars driven by Bishop and Coligaris.
Bennington Police and the Rural Fire Department were assisted at the scene by a Vermont State Police Trooper and the Bennington Rescue Squad.
Route 9 was shut down until about 5:15 p.m.
patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com
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