UNION-LEADER (Manchester, New Hampshire) 25 June 06 Turtle rescue leads to pile-up on I-93 (Elise Castelli)

Windham: A woman’s efforts to rescue a turtle on Interstate 93 late yesterday afternoon caused a five-car accident that sent two people to area hospitals.

Police said the woman stopped in the left lane of I-93 South, just north of the weigh station in Windham, and got out of her car to help the turtle cross the road.

Two cars were able to stop behind the woman, but the two cars immediately behind them collided, said State Trooper Nick Cyr.

Three more cars ultimately joined the pile-up before the woman who had stopped to help the turtle left the scene, as did the driver of one of the cars that had avoided collision. Police were unable to identify either of them.

Devin LeBlanc of Londonderry, the last driver involved in the collisions, and Catherine George of Salem, whose Volvo 960 struck one vehicle before another car crashed into her, suffered minor injuries in the pile-up. A Windham ambulance took LeBlanc to Parkland Medical Center in Derry, said Trooper Cyr. A Derry ambulance transported George to Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, said Derry Fire Battalion Chief Jack Webb.

There were no other injuries and no summonses issued, said Cyr.

Other drivers involved were Norma Mason of Haverhill, Mass., Vania Babikova of South Portland, Maine, and Barbara Davis-Walnum of Amherst.

Cyr said the woman who stopped for the turtle put her life and others in danger by stopping and getting out of the vehicle.

“It could have been fatal,” he said of the pile-up. “She’s lucky it wasn’t.”



http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Turtle rescue leads to pile-up on I-93&articleId=ce738eb3-d4c1-4cc6-a1c5-2f0eaf5e9994

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