SOUTH NEW BERLIN – Police are investigating a Wednesday afternoon crash on State Highway 8 which took the life of a 21-year old Norwich man.

According to Chenango County Sheriff Ernest R. Cutting Jr., Shane T. Romanowski was driving south on Rt. 8 in a black Suzuki, when his car drifted into the northbound lane and into the path of an on-coming tractor trailer.

The incident took place shortly after 1:30 p.m., roughly two miles north of South New Berlin on a straightaway between the state road’s intersections with Brooker Road.

Cutting said the truck’s driver – Robert P. Yedynak, 28, of Oconto, Wisc. – veered right, but was unable to avoid a collision with the smaller vehicle. The car struck the 18-wheeler on the front driver’s side, near the front wheel well.

The truck careened off the side of the road, while the car ended up in the guard rails on the west side of the state highway.