Earlier this week, two sport utility vehicles were involved in a head-on collision on Bingham Drive in Fayetteville.
Head-on collisions are particularly dangerous and often result in drivers and passengers suffering serious or fatal injuries. Fortunately, no one was killed after this week’s car accident, but one mother claims that her daughter could have died had it not been for a passing motorist who could tell that one of the crash victims was in serious trouble.
After the crash occurred, the woman’s 22-year-old daughter was trapped in her Chevrolet SUV. Fluids were also leaking from her SUV and smoke was coming out of her car, indicating that her car could potentially catch fire while she was still pinned in her vehicle.
According to a report from the Fayetteville Police Department, the woman’s daughter was driving north on Bingham Drive when another SUV traveling in the opposite direction suddenly swerved into the woman’s path, hitting her vehicle head-on. The force of the collision caused the woman’s vehicle to rollover.
The 39-year-old woman who was driving the SUV that had crossed into the wrong lane of traffic told police that she simply lost control of her vehicle while driving. However, police did cite the woman for reckless driving. She only suffered minor injuries. Her daughter, who was a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the accident, suffered minor injuries as well.
The accident victim who was driving the Chevy was not so lucky. After the woman was freed from her vehicle, she was taken to a hospital in Chapel Hill to receive treatment for multiple injuries including fractures, a dislocated hip, internal injuries and deep cuts.
According to the accident victim’s mother, the damage could have been far more severe, though. When her daughter was pinned in her vehicle after the crash, a motorist who saw the accident stopped to help her. He realized that her car could potentially catch fire and had another passerby get a fire extinguisher from a nearby worksite. When emergency crews arrived, it took about 30 minutes to extricate the woman from the wreck.
Accidents like this one are certainly a reminder of how quickly one can suffer serious injuries in a crash, but one’s injuries could also become fatal without immediate help.
Source: fayobserver.com, “Patricia Olsen praises help of passing motorist Patrick Gellen after daughter injured in Fayetteville wreck,” Nancy McClearly, June 15, 2012