Rochester man says he was a split second and a foot away from being killed in crash

ROCHESTER - Carlton Cooper of Rochester said he came within a fraction of a second and about a foot away from being killed while driving on Route 11 in Farmington on Tuesday.
Cooper was driving east toward Rochester when he witnessed a fatal head-on crash involving a westbound black SUV and an eastbound truck, described by police as a medium-duty truck.
He believes it was a miracle that he wasn't involved in the crash, himself.
He said he saw the SUV suddenly drifting into his lane and knew he had only a split second to avoid a collision.
"I looked left and right and squeezed around (the SUV) going into the edge of a snowbank," he said. "The guy behind me was just a couple of car lengths behind. He had no chance. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the (head-on) collision and both rear ends go up."
Cooper said he was so close to the oncoming SUV that he could plainly see the driver, who he said had both hands on the wheel.
The collision occurred around 1:30 p.m. about 500 feet west of Tappan Lane, according to a statement from Farmington Police.
The driver of the SUV, 29, died at the scene, while their 55-year-old passenger was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The truck driver, 37, sustained what were described as nonlife threatening injuries, while their passenger, 35, was unhurt.
Cooper said he stayed at the accident scene for about 40 minutes helping police with eastbound traffic.
"After that I went home and took the rest of the day off from work, I was pretty shook up," he said.
Farmington Police said today that the investigation into the crash is ongoing, and the names and hometowns of the victim and those injured cannot yet be released.
Anyone who may have witnessed the accident is asked to contact Farmington Police Det. Reginal Meattey at 603.755.2731