Sweden, NY — April 30, 2025, Patrick Ayles was killed and two others were injured in a truck accident at about 8 a.m. in the 5300 block of Brockport Spencerport Road.

Authorities said an SUV was headed west near Northampton Park when it crashed into the back of a delivery truck that was stopped in traffic.

The driver of the SUV, Patrick Ayles, 48, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to authorities.

The driver of the delivery truck and a passenger were hospitalized with minor injuries, authorities said.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Monroe County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a crash involves a passenger vehicle striking the rear of a stopped delivery truck, the focus often shifts too quickly to assumptions about driver inattention or fault by the person in the smaller vehicle. But legally, and practically, that's only part of the story. The real question is whether the stopped truck was clearly visible and properly positioned, and whether the SUV driver had a fair chance to recognize and react to the hazard in time.

In commercial vehicle operations, stopping in traffic isn’t as simple as hitting the brakes. Delivery trucks are required to be highly visible, especially when stopped on active roadways. That means maintaining functioning brake lights, using hazard flashers when appropriate and positioning the vehicle in a way that doesn’t block or obscure the normal flow of traffic. If the truck in this case was stopped just beyond a curve or hill, or in a location with poor sight lines, that would significantly reduce the time the approaching driver had to respond, and increase the importance of lighting, spacing and positioning.

At the same time, investigators will need to evaluate whether the SUV driver was operating at a safe speed and keeping a proper lookout. If traffic had slowed or stopped ahead and the SUV simply didn’t adjust, that could point to inattention or distraction. But those conclusions can only be drawn after examining things like skid marks, vehicle data and the road environment itself.

It’s also important to consider the time of day. At 8 a.m., traffic is often heavy, and visibility can be affected by sun glare depending on the direction of travel. Those are the kinds of external factors that can contribute to a crash like this but are often overlooked unless someone takes the time to investigate them properly.

This wasn’t just a case of one vehicle rear-ending another. It was a fatal collision between a high-mass commercial vehicle and a private motorist on a public roadway. That places a duty of care not just on the SUV driver, but on the commercial operator to ensure that their vehicle wasn’t creating a danger, even while stopped.

When someone loses their life in a crash like this, the investigation has to look past assumptions and into the chain of decisions and conditions that allowed it to happen. Because the difference between a safe stop and a fatal collision often comes down to details; details that determine whether the driver of a stopped truck made themselves visible, and whether the person approaching ever had a real chance to avoid them.