Families reel from fatal crashes as NY eyes tougher seat belt laws

May 31-- May 31--Police know exactly what caused a fatal crash in a rural part of Wyoming County last weekend: A driver they said was drunk and underage blew through an intersection and slammed into a minivan carrying nine people, killing three of them.

But they also know that some of the occupants were more at risk of injury and death for another reason: They were not wearing seat belts.

"I think anytime you wear a seat belt, you're better off. You have a better chance if something happens," said Donald G. O'Geen, Wyoming County district attorney.

It was the second time in May that seat belt use figured into a fatal crash. The other one involved a West Seneca teen. Tyler Wackowski was killed early May 12 when the Pontiac G-6 he was driving went off of Langner Road, hit a tree stump, rolled over and burst into flames.

Such incidents are why safety experts are pushing people to heed a law that has been on the books in New York for more than 30 years.

It's also why New York is about to make that law even tougher.

The state Senate already passed a bill requiring all passengers to buckle up in the back seat. It remains under consideration in the state Assembly. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo expressed support for the measure earlier this year.

"This is common-sense legislation that will save lives," said David Carlucci, a Hudson Valley Democrat, told the Albany Times-Union. "People in the backseat who do not buckle up can be injured or killed by being ejected from the vehicle or hitting the front seats."

Data from the state Department of Motor Vehicles shows that citations for failing to obey the current law have fallen off in recent years, from just under 200,000 in 2014, to around 160,000 in 2017.

New York was the first state in the nation to have a seat belt law when Gov. Mario Cuomo signed legislation in 1984 requiring all front-seat passengers to wear a seat belt. State law also requires all passengers under age 16 to wear seat belts or be in a child safety seat, regardless of where they sit in the vehicle.

Sen. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, released a letter he received from safety advocates including Ralph Nader, explaining why they want seat belt laws to go further.

"A recent poll released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that nearly 40 percent of people surveyed said they sometimes don't buckle up in the rear seat because there is no law requiring it," the letter said. "If such a law existed, 60 percent of poll respondents said it would convince them to do so."

The American Automobile Association and the Medical Society of the State of New York also have been pushing to make the law apply to all people in a passenger vehicle. AAA data explains why:

--Rear seat occupants who do not buckle up are three times more likely to be killed and eight times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash.

--46% of rear seat occupants in fatal crashes are unbelted.

--Erie County ranked seventh among all counties in New York for rear seat belt fatalities and injuries in 2016.

Wyoming County officials were clear about what they think led to the deaths of Ondina Castro De La Cruz, 47, Mayelin Brito-Castro, 32, and 4-year-old Kyara Hernandez-Brito on Sunday.

"That is the alleged actions of Mr. (Richard) Sawicki," O'Geen said.

Sawicki, 20, of Lackawanna, the son of a Lackawanna police officer, is accused of driving drunk. Authorities said Sawicki ran a stop sign at Route 20A and Maxon Road in his Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck about 6:30 a.m. and T-boned the seven-passenger Kia Sedona that was occupied by the New Jersey family.

His damaged pickup truck was found in a ditch off the side of Maxon Road. The family's van was described as "unrecognizable" after the crash and was found in a Route 20A ditch. Several members of the family were ejected by the vehicle.

"It looked like something exploded," said Jim Kelly, chief of the Varysburg Volunteer Fire Department, who was a first responder at the scene.

"People were in all directions," Kelly said. "Normally in an accident, they're confined in and around the vehicle."

More than 75 volunteers responded to the grisly scene. Besides the two adult victims who were killed, Kyara, the 4-year-old girl who died, was rushed from the scene to the Wyoming County Community Hospital nearby but succumbed to her injuries about two hours later.

"It was the worst scene I've ever seen," Laurel Perl, first assistant chief at Sheldon Volunteer Fire Company, told reporters Friday at the Varysburg fire station. "This was definitely one that affected me more personally more than anything else."

"There were people everywhere. There were crashed vehicles there. And, there was debris," said Kimo Brandon, chief of the Sheldon Volunteer Fire Company.

Brandon, who lives down the street from the crash site, arrived at the scene with a pair of ambulances.

"It was evident there had been multiple ejections," Brandon said. "I'm sure the terminology 'war zone' has been used, and quite frankly, it wasn't a pleasant scene for anyone to come into."

Sawicki faces charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. If convicted of the highest charge, he faces 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison.

Rudolph said sheriff's deputies were still seeking statements, collecting crash data and trying to figure out who was seated where in the van, but said it was clear that everyone wasn't wearing a safety belt and car seats were not found in the vehicle. State law requires that children aged 4 to 7 to be in "an appropriate child restraint system," and currently, backseat passengers up to age 16 are required to wear seatbelts.

O'Geen responded with indignation at the suggestion that the family's failure to use seat belts contributed to the tragedy.

"Today is the day the victim blaming is going to stop," O'Geen said. "This family is in crisis. They are in mourning. They are worried about their children. They're worried about making arrangements for their fallen family members. What they need is our support and compassion."

O'Geen added: "Yes, we do not want people to put nine people in a seven-person van. We don't want people not to buckle their kids in the proper restraints. But that is not what caused the deaths of these victims. There's only one cause of that. And, that is the alleged actions of Mr. Sawicki."

The district attorney said the sheriff's department would have the ultimate decision as to whether to issue citations for the seat belt or other child restraint violations, but added he had no appetite to prosecute any such violations.

"We're not going to be prosecuting tickets against this family. What are we going to do with tickets that have fines and surcharges when they have to live with the cost of their family members?," O'Geen said. "That's just my position."

A makeshift roadside memorial was erected on the southwest side of Maxon Road. There are still skid marks at the intersection, deep tire tracks into a muddy ditch and roadside debris nearby.

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