No. 3 Story of the Year: Fatalities on area roadways
Several people were killed while traveling on area roadways this year, prompting officials to repair potholes and a family to install a billboard on Flanders Road urging drivers to be alert.
The New York State Department of Transportation also repaved Main Road from Doctors Path in Riverhead to Tuckers Lane in Southold, while expanding the double yellow line to include a rumble strip.
James Callaghan of Jamesport, 49, was struck and killed while jogging in a dense fog on Main Road just before dawn on Jan. 16, about 250 feet east of Laurel Lane. Authorities said it appeared Mr. Callaghan was struck by two westbound vehicles, an SUV and a sedan, shortly before 5:45 a.m. The drivers have still not been identified. That same day, a Hampton Bays woman was killed when a PSEG-Long Island utility truck crossed two lanes of traffic on Flanders Road, hitting her SUV head-on, police said at the time. Barbara Tocci, 47, died at the scene. Police officials said they concluded that cellphone use and potholes contributed to the accident. Then, on May 23, 82-year-old Marjorie Case of Aquebogue was driving east on Main Road in Jamesport when she lost control of her car and drifted into the oncoming lane, crashing into a minivan carrying a family from Massachusetts. Ms. Case died in the crash and members of that family were taken to area hospitals for treatment of injuries.
Finally, on June 30, 70-year-old Marco Borghese, winemaker and co-owner of Castello di Borghese Vineyards in Cutchogue, died in a Wading River car accident, just weeks after his wife’s death from cancer.
Top 10 stories of 2014
No. 10: Historic district is history
No. 9: A near-record year for snowfall
No. 8: After 12 years, Bishop is bounced
No. 7: Highest-paid L.I. school employee
No. 6: Series of attacks near downtown
No. 5: Tide starts to turn in Riverside
No. 4: Skydiver killed, instructor critically injured
