SIDNEY – New York State Police have concluded their investigation into the motor vehicle accident which killed Trooper Jill E. Mattice in January, finding the cause to be “driver inattention.”

On Jan. 20, 2010, Trooper Mattice was traveling east on State Route 23 in Morris in a marked state police vehicle, en route to the Oneonta barracks from her assigned duty as a School Resource Officer at the Unadilla Valley High School.

At the time of the collision, Trooper Mattice was proceeding up a grade while rounding a right hand curve. While traversing the curve, Trooper Mattice’s vehicle drifted across the center lines and struck the trailer portion of a west bound tractor trailer. The front bumper of Trooper Mattice’s vehicle impacted the driver’s side of the low boy trailer, continuing along the trailer until making contact with components of the load, a steel step and track of a gravel screener. Trooper Mattice’s vehicle then rotated away from the trailer in a counter clockwise direction toward the southeast, coming to rest partially on the south shoulder. Trooper Mattice died at the scene due to traumatic injuries sustained in the collision.