by David Flint
Bill Jennings reports that he is doing well physically but still suffering mental stress after surviving a head on crash on Tuesday, August 12 in which the other driver was killed.
According to Sgt Mark St.Germain of the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office, the accident occurred on Garfield Road in Stephentown at 9:05 am about a half mile east of Woodward Road. Jennings, a Fire Commissioner and Treasurer of the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department, was driving westbound in a 2003 Toyota pickup truck when he was struck head on by a 1983 Chevrolet sedan driven by Erika Jellison, 20 years old, from North Adams. Apparently, he said, Jellison went too wide on a curve in the road and lost control of her vehicle.
Jennings said he tried to avoid the crash but there was no room. He was gratified to see his colleagues from the Stephentown Fire Department and Rescue Squad arrive quickly on the scene. Miraculously he had suffered no major injury and was released from the scene with the understanding his wife Ellen would transport him to Berkshire Medical Center to be checked out. He did suffer a sprained ankle and lots of sores, bruises and scrapes, but the worst was the emotional stress and the knowledge that the young driver of the other car had not survived. It was a totally unnerving experience unlike any he had ever had, Jennings said.