The Latest: Ban On Thruway Trucks In Western NY Lifted

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Latest on the severe weather impacting New York state (all times local):

10:20 p.m.

The ban on tractor trailers and commercial buses on the New York State Thruway in Western New York because of hazardous weather conditions has been lifted.

The New York State Thruway Authority lifted the travel ban on Interstate 90 from Exit 46 to the Pennsylvania state line just after 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo had vowed to crack down on truckers who violated the ban after a tractor-trailer was blamed for causing a 19-vehicle pileup on the Thruway near Rochester on Wednesday.

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4:20 p.m.

At least three deaths are being blamed on the winter storm that has dropped more than 20 inches of snow on parts of western New York, accompanied by subzero wind chills.

Authorities said Thursday a homeless man found frozen in a suburban Buffalo bus shelter may have been a fourth storm victim but an autopsy was needed to confirm his cause of death.

Two Buffalo-area men died clearing snow and a man died in Livingston County when his vehicle hit a snowdrift and crashed early Thursday.

The victims' names and other details haven't been released.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says one of the men who died clearing snow was shoveling and the other was operating a snowblower.

Buffalo schools will be closed for a third day Friday.

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2:07 p.m.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has personally scolded two truck drivers who ignored a travel ban imposed on some Buffalo-area highways and roads because of hazardous weather conditions.

The Democrat set out in an emergency services vehicle to check out local road conditions Thursday, a day after a tractor-trailer was blamed for causing a 19-vehicle pileup on the Thruway near Rochester. Large trucks and buses have been banned from that the western stretch of the highway since Tuesday.

Cuomo's entourage came upon two trucks police had stopped from getting on another route closed to truck traffic. The governor jumped on the running board of one of the trucks and told the driver to pull over because the roads are dangerous.

He says the drivers were "a little surprised" to see him and were ticketed by state police.

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11:50 a.m.

New York State Police say two truckers involved in a 19-vehicle Thruway pileup that left a trooper with serious injuries have been ticketed for violating a travel ban for large vehicles.

Police say Thursday that a truck traveling east on Interstate 90 jackknifed on Wednesday afternoon near Batavia, between Rochester and Buffalo.

Officials say a trooper stopped on the highway's shoulder to assist stranded motorists was injured when the sliding rig hit her patrol vehicle, which was then sideswiped by a second truck.

The two truck drivers were issued several tickets, including failing to heed traffic control devices, troopers said.

The injured trooper was treated at a Rochester hospital for numerous injuries but is expected to recover, officials said. Two other people were treated and released, police said.

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10:03 a.m.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says state police will be cracking down on truckers who violate a travel ban on the western section of the Thruway after a tractor-trailer crash was blamed for causing a major pile-up during severe weather.

Speaking Thursday morning near Buffalo, Cuomo said truckers who violate the ban and cause a crash could be charged with reckless endangerment and assault as well as be ticketed.

A ban prohibiting tractor-trailers and buses from traveling Interstate 90 between Rochester and the Pennsylvania border remains in effect Thursday.

Cuomo says a tractor-trailer whose driver ignored the ban jackknifed west of Rochester Wednesday afternoon, causing a 21-vehicle pileup that injured several people, including a state trooper.

Officials say local driving bans remain in effect in parts of the Buffalo area.