Albany Police have identified the pedestrian killed on Western Avenue on Thursday evening, November 5, as Charles Adriance, 79, of Guilderland, the department announced on Sunday, November 8. Adriance was struck by a vehicle near the University at Albany's Uptown Campus and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Source: WAMC Northeast Public Radio
A preliminary investigation found that Adriance was attempting to cross Western Avenue outside of a crosswalk when he was struck, according to Albany Police. Police statements reported after the crash put the collision at about 5:45 p.m. on Thursday near Tryon Street, on the stretch of Western Avenue that runs past the UAlbany Uptown Campus.
Driver stayed and is cooperating
The driver who struck Adriance remained at the scene, reported no injuries, and is cooperating with the ongoing investigation, police said. Albany Fire Department and EMS personnel treated Adriance in the roadway, but he was declared deceased at the scene. Western Avenue was closed for an extended period on Thursday evening while investigators processed the scene, and the road was later reopened.
Police released Adriance's name publicly only after notification of his family had been completed, which is why the identification came on Sunday, three days after the crash. He was 79 and lived in Guilderland, the Albany County town just west of the city.
Albany Police describe the investigation as active and ongoing. No charges or citations had been announced in the reports published as of Sunday, November 8, and the preliminary finding released so far is that Adriance was crossing outside a marked crosswalk when he was struck.
A busy campus corridor after dark
Western Avenue is one of Albany's main east-west arterials, carrying traffic past the University at Albany's Uptown Campus, homes, shops and bus stops, with students and residents crossing it on foot throughout the day. The crash happened in the early-evening darkness of the first week after the clocks went back at the start of November, when the evening commute in Albany takes place after sunset and pedestrians are harder for drivers to see.
For the Capital Region's South Asian and Punjabi families, many of whom live in Guilderland, Colonie and the suburbs west of Albany and travel Western Avenue daily for work, school and the UAlbany campus, the death is a reminder of how unforgiving the corridor can be for anyone crossing on foot outside a marked crossing.
What happens next
Albany Police say the investigation remains ongoing. Detectives are expected to complete their reconstruction of how the crash happened, and any decision on charges or traffic citations would follow that review. Police have not announced any charges so far, and the driver continues to cooperate, according to the department.