Truck driver in fatal crash says ‘there was no way out’

LEICESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — One person was killed and four others were hurt when a car was t-boned by a tractor-trailer Wednesday evening in Livingston County.

Livingston County Sheriff Tom Dougherty said the person killed was 58-year-old Syed Kefayet Ullah of Bangladesh.

Thursday morning the driver of the truck contacted News10NBC because he wanted to get a message to the families of the people in the car.

"I’m very sorry for the family. There was nothing I could do," Rodney Gleason said.

Gleason was driving the tractor-trailer and on his way to Pennsylvania. He said he watched the car driving in his direction on Route 36 just north of Mt. Morris.

"All of a sudden without any warning, just turned right in front of me," Gleason said. "After this many years of driving, I looked instantly for a way out. There was no way out."

The sheriff said the car did turn in front of Gleason’s truck.

Two people were thrown out of the car and one of them, Syed Kefayet Ullah, died on the road. The other has life-threatening injuries. The other three people in the car are hurt but the sheriff believes they will survive.

Gleason said he was going the speed limit and passed all of his drug and alcohol tests.

Brean: "Was the car swerving at all in the road? Any red flag that this was going to happen?"

Gleason: "No sir. It was coming right straight and I believe at a normal speed, coming at like 55, a normal speed to me."

Brean: "Just cut in front of you."

Gleason: "Just cut right in front."

Gleason said he never saw a turn signal but he recalls the car accelerating when it turned in front of him. It happened at an intersection and he wonders if the car was trying to make the turn before he got there.

The driver, Abu Syed Rezaul Karim, was issued a traffic ticket for failure to yield the right of way making a left turn.

The sheriff said the crash remains under investigation with the preliminary findings being non-criminal in nature.