Neighborhood reacts to Petersburgh car crash

PETERSBURGH, NY (NEWS10) -- Neighbors are calling for enhanced safety protocols after five people were injured and sent to the hospital following a three-car crash on New York State Route 2 in the town of Petersburgh on Sunday. Two people were life flighted for their injuries after two of the cars, travelling in opposite directions, collided. Ben Krahforst’s family has owned the building just behind the crash site for decades. He says cars speeding along Route 2 has been a prevalent issue. “I've had to come out with my kids and I've had to actually come right down the road, stop the vehicles and tell them to please stop. I've come out and I've taken license plates, numbers, and everything” said Ben Krahforst. “This building has been hit several times by trucks. My dad was sleeping on feedbags one time, when he just happened to get up and a truck had come right in through and hit the store right here. We had to rebuild the site” Krahforst has been a first responder at the Petersburg Fire Department for 49 yrs. When the crash occurred he was faced with a horrible scene just outside of his home. Check out NEWS10’s traffic tracker. You can plan your route and see traffic delays in real-time! “I'm not going to describe what we saw because it was too horrific," says Krahforst. "We had three people in the car that we had to extricate. I worked on the worst one.” He said that one of his biggest messages is to always wear your seatbelt.  “When you see a young lady, you know, it reminds me of my granddaughter now," says Krahforst. "Young kids, wear your seatbelt. This young lady in the back didn't have a seatbelt on” Krahforst doesn’t know exactly what the right answer is, but he does feel that the roadway is not safe. He says, “We do need to maintain the speed around here. There are people constantly walking on the street. There are no sidewalks. It would be helpful if they would slow down. You have a lot of out-of-state people that ride this road.” Harold Nicholas and Bruce Whitmore are both longtime residents of the town as well, and say that further safety measures need to be implemented. “I definitely think there should be a flashing light in both directions,” said Nicholas. “We need more of a police presence here to stop this violation of the 30 mile per hour speed limit. It's not posted in one spot, it's posted in several spots. This has got to stop before we have another accident like we had here.” According to the sheriff’s office, the investigation into the crash remains ongoing. Stay with NEWS10 as we continue to learn more.