Driver injured in head-on crash that stops 103 traffic for more than two hours

By Cynthia Prairie
©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC

A30-year-old White River Junction man was injured shortly before 9 a.m. Monday morning when his northbound 2000 Chevrolet Blazer crossed the center line on Route 103 in Cavendish, hitting a Ford van head-on that was heading south and pushing it back about 50 yards upon impact, police have said.

State Police said the Blazer driver became trapped in his car and had to extracted. Once the Proctorsville Fire Department, which sent two engines and eight firefighters to the scene, arrived, it took its members less than 14 minutes to free the driver from the vehicle, using hydraulic rescue tools. His legs had become entrapped and he was transported by Ludlow Ambulance to Springfield Hospital with severe leg injuries, the Proctorsville Fire Department said.

The patient was later transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., with apparently non-life threatening injuries, police said.

The van driver, a 55-year-old from Bomoseen, reported no injuries. Both drivers had been wearing seat belts at the time of the crash and State Police say that while the sky was cloudy, the road conditions were dry.

Traffic was stopped in all directions for an hour and around 9:50 a.m. police opened one lane to traffic. Both lanes were opened around 11:20 a.m.

Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Trooper Alibozek at the Westminster Barracks 802-722-4600.