FARMINGTON – Three people were hurt following a three-vehicle accident involving six people at the intersection of Wilton, Red School House and Knowlton Corner roads at noon on Wednesday.
Police say a 1999 red Chevrolet Tracker sports utility vehicle, attempting to cross Wilton Road from the Red School House Road, pulled out in front of a 2010 Nissan Altima sedan traveling west on Wilton Road and collided with it.
A third car, a 2006 Toyota two-door sedan, traveling east on Wilton Road was then struck by the SUV as it spun around into oncoming traffic, said Farmington Officer Justin Blais.
The Altima’s driver, Jason Dustin, 37, of Jay, said he tried to avoid the crash when he saw the SUV pull out.
“I started mashing on my brakes but couldn’t stop in time,” he said at the scene.
The SUV’s driver Mary Ann Richard, 72, of Wilton, and her passenger, Dorothy Richard, 71, also of Wilton, were both transported by NorthStar EMS ambulances to Franklin Memorial Hospital. Blais said they both suffered neck and back pain.
The driver of the Toyota sedan, Rebecca Robertson, 55, of Livermore Falls, was also transported to the hospital complaining of neck pain.
Farmington Fire Rescue personnel and State Police Trooper Jed Malcore assisted at the scene with traffic control.
Dustin was traveling with two passengers, his girlfriend, Samantha Atwood, 25, of Strong, and her young daughter.
Blais noted that the wide intersection and heavy traffic at that hour made “it tough to pull out.”
A bit of constructive criticism. I happened to be traveling through that area at the time of the accident. Travel was very heavy in all directions. Fire,police and ambulance personnel were all on scene,but nobody took control of traffic control. There could easily have been more accidents as drivers were creating their own routes. Traffic was backed up through two lights,( hospital and Wal-Mart )and cars were lane hopping,doing u-turns and trying alternatives in both directions. Someone needs to direct traffic flow as well as tend to accident victims.,and people need to be willing to just chill out and let personnel do their jobs. It was scary.
When I cross Rt. 2 from the Red Schoolhouse road I play it safe and I cut through the Walmart parking lot because there are traffic lights there. It is safe that way. That crossing where the accident occured is very dangerous because the intersection has sort of a blind hill to deal with .
But we are all smarter than the professional traffic engineers and ignore their recommendations for how to improve the safety along this road.
Medium Grind, You’ve got that right! And while you may say that tongue in cheek, I’m serious. Thank God they didn’t go to single lanes…….you might be calling yourself Medium Gridlock. Good Day!
Were traffic flow improvements considered before the new facility to built there on Knowlton Corner Rd was approved?
Maybe a traffic light might help?
Agree with Bill Reid. I also go to Walmart.Much safer to have lights with such heavy traffic .
Agree with Bill Reid. I also go to Walmart Much safer where there are lights. One also needs to watch that no one is trying to beat the lights.
There are enough traffic lights at that intersection
No Connor, there are no lights there.
Bill what is that object hanging over the road with red and orange blinking lights? But I agree with Connor, NO MORE traffic lights with mandatory stops; it takes forever to get thru Farmington already. And why don’t they fix the light at FMH? Loads of fun when all vehicles sit frozen in time for what seems like hours! And local drivers, there is no advantage to sneaking up slowly on a green light. Traffic would flow much better if it was understood that green means GO!
While all the road work goes on the lights will be on timers not using the magnetic strips that are in the lanes at the intersections. They will be replaced when the project is completed. There is nothing wrong with the light at FMH, it’s on a timer I sat through it yesterday too. The whole roadway is still a construction zone so please be aware that a lane could be closed at any time and please drive. safe.
What would also improve flow is if people stayed out of the left lane while traveling.
Thanks Mort. Makes sense now!
CP you are right. There is a blinking light at that intersection I went through that intersection this afternoon and noticed the blinking light. I apologize to Connor. I was wrong. The best way to get onto Rt 2 is to go through the Walmart parking lot.