Tuesday, July 20, 2010

21-Year-Old Killed in Haverhill Crash

A 21-year-old New Hampshire woman was killed in a truck-car collision in Haverhill, Massachusetts over the weekend, only hours after another fatal Mass. motor vehicle accident left 3 people dead.

According to the police, Kelsey A. Richardson, of Atkinson, NH, may have been texting while driving her 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue in the northbound lane of I-495 just before Exit 51, when she struck a high-speed lane guardrail.

The crash sent her back into the right lane hitting a tractor-trailer. Police said Richardson was ejected from her vehicle and was then struck by a second truck, a 1997 International tractor-trailer driven by Fredrick Botting of Houlton, Maine, killing her on the spot.

Emergency services who arrived at the scene pronounced her dead just after 4:15 am.

Police are trying to determine whether she was wearing a seat belt. In addition, witnesses and preliminary investigation show that Richardson may have been using her cellphone at the time of the crash.

Massachusetts passed a law to ban texting and driving earlier this month. The law, which will take effect in October, also bans driver from e-mailing and searching the Internet. New Hampshire also bans texting while driving as of January this year.

We are sincerely sorry about the death of Kelsey A. Richardson.

She was a spring graduate from Northern Essex Community College with a degree in criminal justice, and was planning to continue her studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in the fall.

Friends describe her as a responsible person, and some have expressed their surprise that she was allegedly texting and driving.

The fatal crash remains under investigation.

News Sources: The Boston Herald,
The Boston Globe, The Eagle Tribune.

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