NHSP: Troopers OK After Crashes on I-95

PORTSMOUTH, NH - Two New Hampshire State Police troopers were treated for injuries this morning and are OK after crashes just minutes after one another on I-95 South on March 21, 2016, during the heaviest part of the snowstorm, according to a statement.

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At just before 8 a.m., a trooper from NHSP Troop A was in the process of completing an accident investigation on I-95 South in Portsmouth when a second vehicle, being driven by an elderly woman from Kittery, ME, was “veering out of control” and heading toward the trooper as his stood near a tow truck attempting to haul a vehicle away.

The woman’s vehicle slid into the breakdown lane and the trooper attempted to move to avoid being struck by the oncoming vehicle but was hit, according to state police.

“The passenger side of (the woman’s) vehicle struck him and (he) was pinned between the vehicle and the cruiser,” according to Lt. Christopher Vetter of the NHSP.

The collision, however, was not high-speed.

A second trooper responded to the scene to conduct an investigation of that crash and was parked behind the woman from Maine in the breakdown lane. At this time – about 8:10 a.m. – a second vehicle, being driven by a man from Bowdinham, ME, struck the trooper from behind, according to Vetter.

Vetter noted that the second driver “lost control, slid into the breakdown lane, and struck (the second trooper’s cruiser).”

Both troopers were transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital and were treated and released, according to state police. Neither of the Maine drivers were injured in the crashes. All four vehicles had damage but were driven from the scene.

A relatively minor winter this year and better awareness led to limited injuries and accidents involving state police this year – compared to last year, where more than 50 snowplows and state trooper cruisers were struck on New Hampshire highways. However, officials remind drivers that in hazardous weather conditions, they should move over and take it slow.