Wild five-car crash snarls Friday afternoon commute

Scene of Friday afternoon's rush-hour accident at the corner of Gonic and Chesley Hill roads. (Rochester Voice photo)

GONIC - Two motorists were injured in a spectacular multicar crash Friday afternoon on Gonic Road.

The five-car crash occurred around 4:40 p.m. at the height of rush hour at the corner of Gonic and Chesley Hill roads, creating a nightmare traffic scenario to start the summer weekend.

After a brief investigation police learned that a 2017 Honda CRV, driven by Tammy Jones, 55, of 352 Longshores Drive, Barrington, a Nissan Altima, driven by Heather Roland, 28, of 38 Strafford Rd in Gonic and 2007 Ford Fusion driven by Luke Kyle, 31, of 22 Auburn St in Exeter were all headed south and stopped at the red light just prior to the accident.

Then a fourth vehicle, a 2006 Acura TSX driven by Timothy Higgins, 43, of 7 Black Alder Dr in Kingston, came southbound at a high rate of speed to the right of the lane of traffic and struck a 2016 Chevy 1500 pickup truck driven by Michael Barham, 46, of 34 Ledgeview Dr in Gonic, and the Ford Fusion.

The force of the impact propelled the Ford Fusion into the first two cars, the Honda CRV and the Nissan Altima.

Two drivers were transported to Frisbie Memorial Hospital for non-life threatening injuries. The cause of this accident remains under investigation. Impairment by alcohol or drugs is not believed to be a factor.

The Chevy 1500 pickup, Acura and Ford Fusion were all towed from the scene while the others were able to be driven.