BRENTWOOD — Police expect to file charges in the aftermath of a five-vehicle crash that hospitalized one person Monday on Route 125, a road notorious for dangerous accidents.
The crash occurred at approximately 9 a.m. a half-mile north of the South Road intersection of Route 125, where a fatal motorcycle crash also occurred last year, according to Brentwood Police Chief John Ventura. He said the driver who caused the crash was driving a truck and attempted to pass a tractor-trailer that was turning left into a business, resulting in a chain reaction of cars colliding.
“It was a very violent crash,” Ventura said. “The truck the woman was in was mangled. It was a miracle anyone walked out of it.”
The woman walked away from the crash unscathed, Ventura said, but another driver involved was hospitalized at Portsmouth Regional Hospital and is battling life-threatening injuries in the intensive care unit. Drugs and alcohol are not believed to be a factor in the crash, he said.
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Police are now waiting, he said, to see how the patient heals before charges are determined. He expects the driver who tried to pass the tractor-trailer to face at least some charges.
“I would say it’s almost a surety,” Ventura said. “There will be charges. Don’t know what level of charges. We don’t have a final condition of the victim.”
Asked how the crash happened, Ventura initially said, “Route 125. That’s how it happened.”
The road has become notorious for crashes over the years, with a motorcyclist killed in September in a crash that took place at the Route 125-South Road intersection.
Other fatal accidents have occurred in years prior as well, including as recently as 2021. New Hampshire’s Office of Highway Safety said there were 4,893 crashes over the past nine years on the Route 125 corridor. New Hampshire State Police and local police recently said they would step up patrols this summer from Plaistow to Milton to combat dangerous driving on the roadway.
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Ventura said Brentwood also hosted a community forum four weeks ago that included Executive Councilor Janet Stevens, state Department of Safety officials and the commissioner from the state Department of Transportation. He hopes that changes can be made to the road to ensure safety, including at the intersection near South Road.
“I’ve been trying ever since I got on board last March … to try to get lower speeds there,” Ventura said. “Maybe change that intersection into a light.”
One hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after 'violent' 5-car … – Seacoastonline.com
