Chain reaction Worcester-area car accidents

Two car accidents recently happened in the Worcester area within moments of each other. Law enforcement officials believe the first accident — a rollover — caused the second accident, which involved an Athol Fire Department ambulance.

No patient was in the ambulance at the time of the crash.

The chain reaction began Wednesday night in the westbound lane of Route 2 when a vehicle overturned while trying to avoid a collision, a state police spokesperson said.

At about 3:40 p.m., officers were called and told of an accident near the Abbott Avenue exit, the spokesperson said. Just four minutes later, one of the responding troopers called in a report of a second crash — one caused by the first accident.

The first crash was a single-car accident in which a 2005 Chevrolet Aveo driven by a 54-year-old Westminster woman rolled over. She was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus in Worcester for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

She apparently lost control of her car when she swerved to avoid colliding with a car that had slowed to allow another vehicle onto the road.

The woman did manage to avoid hitting anyone else, but she did roll her car into nearby trees and was then trapped inside it.

Leominister firefighters later extricated her from her vehicle, the spokesperson said.

In the moments after the rollover, an Athol Fire Department ambulance driven by a 47-year-old Athol firefighter was involved in a crash near the site of the initial accident.

A 35-year-old firefighter was a passenger in the ambulance.

Also in the crash: a 41-year-old man driving a 2006 Toyota Rav4 and a 32-year-old Princeton woman driving a 1998 Subaru Legacy station wagon. In the latter vehicle were three passengers: the woman’s two sons, ages four and two, and her 31-year-old husband. Also in the four-car crash was a 1999 Oldsmobile driven by a Gardner man, 33 years old.

Fortunately, members of the young family were not hurt in the crash, however several others in separate vehicles suffered injuries deemed “minor,” and were transported for treatment.

Source: Worcester Telegram, “Route 2 rollover, ambulance accident may be linked,” May 17, 2013