WINDHAM, N.H. — The driver of a Honda Civic was ejected from the vehicle onto the high-speed lane of Interstate 93 in Windham in an accident that forced the closing of northbound lanes during evening rush hour yesterday.
The lanes were closed for more than two hours and traffic was backed up for miles into Massachusetts. New Hampshire police contacted Massachusetts authorities, who placed electronic signs along I-93 northbound to alert motorists to the accident in Windham.
The driver, whom police declined to identify last night, was in critical condition in Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, police said.
It occurred shortly before 4:30 p.m. near the weigh station, forced police to close the northbound side of the highway for about 21âÑ2 hours, New Hampshire state police Capt. John LeLacheur said.
The driver was taken by Windham Fire Department ambulance to Parkland Medical Center in Derry and then flown by medical helicopter to Boston.
Police believe another vehicle was involved, LeLacheur said. They are not sure if that vehicle collided with the Honda, which received heavy front-end damage, or if it may have cut the car off, LeLacheur said.
Police interviewed motorists who witnessed the crash and pulled over, he said.
Motorists were at a standstill for several miles as state police investigated the wreckage. A tarp covered the front of the blue Honda and pieces of the car were strewn across the blood-spattered roadway. State troopers were still gathering evidence, including vehicle fragments, at the crash scene two hours after the accident occurred as it became dark. At least one fire engine was also sent to the scene.
The northbound side of I-93 was reopened about 7 p.m.
Police closed the northbound side of I-93 between Exits 3 and 4 about 15 minutes after the crash, and diverted northbound traffic off the highway at Exit 3 in Windham.
Traffic on the northbound side of the highway, just south of the accident scene, was diverted onto the southbound side via an emergency crossover road in the highway median strip.
Large tractor-trailers, which were too big to use the crossover, were forced to back up, heading south, down the northbound lane to Exit 3, where they got off the highway, LeLacheur said. An empty school bus also had to backtrack to Exit 3 to get off the highway, he said.
Some motorists who were diverted off the highway expressed frustration and said they didn't know what secondary roads to take to get where they were headed, including Bedford and Manchester.
Motorists were forced to use secondary roads. LeLacheur said he hopes they took advantage of the emergency routes, marked by blue DOT signs, which include Route 28 through Windham and Derry, where traffic was slow moving for a couple of hours.
