A 20-year-old resident of Mumford died this morning from injuries sustained in an accident on Sumner Road, Darien, last night.
Investigators said that at 9:05 p.m. Casey J. Parnell stepped from the south shoulder of Sumner Road into the roadway for no apparent reason.
He was struck by a 2009 Kia minivan driven by Amanda Cline, 39, of Homer.
The accident was reported at 1516 Sumner Road, at the base of an area known as "The Hill" or "Cherry Hill," and is reportedly a privately owned parking lot favored by many young people going to concerts at Darien Lake.
Parnell's action was described as "sudden."
While the accident remains under investigation, no charges are anticipated.
Parnell, who was flown to Erie County Medical Center by Mercy Flight, succumbed to his injuries at 5:23 a.m.
None of the occupants of the minivan were injured.
Assisting the Sheriff's Office at the scene were State Police, Darien Volunteer Fire Department and Mercy EMS.
UPDATED 11:40 a.m.: Added photos from the accident scene this morning of Deputy Ron Meides and Sgt. John Szumigala taking measurements to aid in the investigation.
Sorry and sad to hear, but
Sorry and sad to hear, but obviously a death here was coming.
It's a simple fix really. The private lots already are given a ''rule'' to follow by the County Police - oneway traffic out of the lots upon exit. This pretty much means anything from the employee entrance west heads west and east heads east (traffic coming out of the employee entrance must exit west). It's not truely enforced and has it's issues. Now if the County would just shut down the opposite lanes with barricades (static or vehicle) at these lots and at the Rt 77 corner and Colby rd. This would improve the safety of the foot traffic, as there are deep ditches on either side of Sumner rd. That way foot traffic could walk in this lane and be used by Emergency equipment only, when needed. That would be a huge bonus in their response times.
It's the people tired of being stuck in traffic that turn around, hoping the opposite way is faster. It's also the few people driving to pick up people that work at Darien Lake or concert goers, that use the end of the employee entrance driveway. This needs to stop. Barricades at these points, make these people go to the main entrance, where the old gas station use to be to get their ride. Plenty of safe areas there, as they are making the situation worse by parking on the road at the Employee entrance.
Man these barricades by trained people that have experience in traffic, it can be on/off duty police or fireman or highway crews. Have the private lots pay for the 3hrs of time for these people to safe guard their patrons.
So how many more people (kids) will get killed before something gets studied to exhaustion? If ALL of the private lots on Sumner would follow some safety rules, these people will be a lot safer and not have a concert as the last thing they did in their lives.