Courtesy Photo/Michael Hanson: This is the truck that flipped over on Route 2 in Lancaster Saturday evening, seriously injuring the two passengers.
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One of the victims was transported to UMass Medical Center by helicopter in the accident which took place Saturday night. Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.
LANCASTER — Two Gardner residents sustained serious injuries in a single-vehicle accident on Route 2 in Lancaster Saturday.
According to State Police spokesman David Procopio, at 10:40 p.m., a 2004 Dodge Dakota pickup truck heading eastbound on Route 2 rolled over twice, landing right side up on the side of the highway.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that the truck was eastbound on 2 in the left lane when, for reasons still under investigation, the truck abruptly veered to the right, across the right travel lane and off the right edge of the road,” said Procopio. “The driver then apparently tried to steer back to left but overcorrected, causing the truck to rotate, roll onto its roof, and slide back to the left across both lanes and off the left edge of the road, where it flipped upright again.”
The driver of the pickup truck was a 59-year-old Gardner woman whom police believe was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. She was ejected from the vehicle and suffered serious injuries. She was transported to UMass Medical Center by helicopter.
Her passenger, a 61-year-old Gardner man, who is also believed to have been unbelted at the time of the accident, was trapped in the vehicle following the rollover.
“He was extricated by Lancaster Firefighters and transported by Lancaster EMS to UMass Medical with serious injuries,” said Procopio.
According to Procopio, the left lane of Route 2 was shut down throughout the crash investigation and reconstruction; and for a brief period, all eastbound lanes were closed to accommodate the helicopter. The scene was cleared by 1:30 a.m.
The crash remains under investigation by Troop C of the Massachusetts State Police, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.
