Slippery icy road in Walpole potential cause of serious injuries
Winter weather brings the potential for snow, sleet, freezing rain and other hazardous road conditions. Those of us in Massachusetts who drive in bad weather are accustomed to navigating a tailspin, although it always takes us one or two snowstorms before our snow driving skills return.
Four people were seriously injured on Interstate 95 near Walpole. The cause of the car accident is being investigated by Troop H of the state police, the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the State Police Crime Scene Service Section. It appears that a slippery snowy road may have been a factor.
The other thing that people who drive in snow know is that the cause of the accident is sometimes not the driver who crashes a car, but the driver in front of the crash. That could be the driver who didn’t signal a lane change, or the one who slowed down unexpectedly or the semi truck that blasted past a car causing momentary loss of vision.
The single-car accident which injured four people occurred at 12:40 in the afternoon. At the time of the accident, black ice road conditions were reported. The injured individuals included a 36-year-old man, 33-year-old woman, 5-year-old boy and15-month old child. All of them were seriously injured, the most serious of which was the 15-month-old.
The toddler was thought to be dead at the scene of the accident, but was revived at Norwood Hospital and then transferred to Children’s Hospital. His condition was reported as stabilized. The 5-year-old boy was also sent to Norwood Hospital and later transferred to Children’s Hospital in Boston. The man and woman were both taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Although the road conditions appear to be a factor in the crash, should another driver’s negligent behavior also be a factor, the injured individuals could sue for compensation for their personal injuries. The state police are looking for witnesses to the accident.
Source: The Sun Chronicle, “Crash injures boy, toddler,” Stu Skerker, Dec. 2, 2012
