“Oh my god, we have to call 911!” Panting, we raced up the on-ramp of Exit 24 off of Interstate 93, near Ashland, as I kept the 911 dispatcher on the line. My girlfriend and fellow PSU student, Samantha Adams, paced in front of me. As we neared the portion of guardrail that was twisted, snarled and blown-out we saw the mangled silver Dodge Ram which laid on its driver’s side. I approached nervously, expecting to see some horrific and gory scene inside the truck’s cab. Imagine my surprise when I peered inside and saw nobody behind the wheel.
Around 4:15 a.m., police and emergency teams quickly responded to our call. They searched the surrounding area for the vehicle’s occupant in case he had been ejected during the crash, but their search found nothing. The vehicle’s driver was not identified at the scene. The truck’s windshield was still intact, but the passenger window was smashed inward toward the cab which indicated it was broken after the accident. Police were not able to make a statement on the specifics of the crash, but it would appear that the driver was assisted in leaving scene of the accident.
Avoiding the police could possibly indicate that the driver was under the influence of alcohol and did not want to be charged with a DUI, however there could be other circumstances to explain his absence on the scene. Being that it was the Saturday of Halloween weekend, police had expected that a good number of the late-night motorists could possibly be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 110 traffic fatalities in N.H. reported in 2009, 109 of which occurred in rural areas similar to the forested side of I-93 where we found the overturned truck. Thirty of these fatalities were a result of alcohol-impaired driving. The truck was going so fast that it punched through the guardrail and turned over, splaying pieces of the body, trim, and personal articles of the driver everywhere. These included a cooler, a toolbox, and a small wooden baseball bat on the ground around the vehicle. The driver was lucky to escape the mysterious crash with his life, but he will still face charges of leaving the scene of an accident and possible reckless driving once the police identify the registered owner of the truck.
“At first I thought it might have been a minivan,” Samantha added, “and I thought there might be children inside. I’m actually pretty pissed at him [the driver]. How could he disregard the people who first respond and are worried that someone might be hurt? It’s one thing to be driving so fast that you crash like that, but leaving after just makes people worry for nothing.” While we can be thankful that nobody was killed, or seriously hurt, we have to remember that it is especially important for anyone involved in an accident to stay with their vehicles and ensure that everyone is okay. Police need to assess the situation, determine liability, and ensure that any injuries get treated.