Two air lifted after car rear-ends buggy

YATES COUNTY--Following the Wednesday, July 21, crash that saw a vehicle rear-end a horse-drawn buggy on Route 14A, Yates County Sheriff Ron Spike said he has discussed the case with the district attorney for consideration of criminal negligence assault by a vehicle. As it stands, the driver of the vehicle, William Valentin, 55, of Geneva, has already been charged with following too closely and failure to exercise due care when approaching a horse.
"I hesitate to even call it an accident," said Spike. "It is a crash... We are working on the presentation for the grand jury to consider criminal charges."
The occupants of the buggy included the driver Ivan Horning, 80, along with his 79-year-old wife, Ella. Both were taken by medical helicopters to Strong Hospital after the incident.
"They suffered very serious injuries," said Spike.
The official accident report from the sheriff's office indicated "serious head and internal injuries including fractures-both were ejected from the buggy upon impact by the motor vehicle."
Wednesday's crash marks the second serious buggy-related accident in just over a month with the first occurring on Route 364 in Potter and killing one occupant of the buggy involved. The driver was also charged with following too close and failure to exercise due care when approaching a horse, which are standard charges for those involved in buggy accidents where they are rear-ended.
"There is an obligation on the driver to recognize that you have a horse-drawn carriage and give them space," Spike added.
As it relates to the incident this past Wednesday, Spike drew a clear distinction between the two recent buggy crashes and why he is seeking more serious charges for the latter.
"You had vision for quite a lot of distance there...the buggy was straddling on the fog line and staying to the right," Spike stated. "This individual had two lanes and he was in the right lane and never moved over. He had a lane to pass. Obviously driver inattention or distraction, we are still making a determination on that and he just hit them full speed into the rear."
The investigation into Valentin has included confiscating his phone for a forensic analysis to see if it was in use during the crash and an analysis of his car's black box. Deputies are also working on accident reconstruction to determine the location of everyone at the time of the incident.
"It should be noted that the buggy did have the required orange triangle and blinking red lights along with clear visibility... Sight distance was good, you could see quite a ways and that is very concerning." Spike said.
Field sobriety tests performed on Valentin rule out any intoxication or substance being involved.
As to when the DA will present the case to a grand jury Spike said he expects that to occur in either August or September.