A car lies on its side after hitting a curb and running up a guy wire. (Courtesy photo)
Lancaster resident Dean Davis flipped his car on its side Sunday afternoon as he tried to pass a vehicle stopped in front of the General Store on Still River Road.
The accident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. According to Harvard police officer Daniele Fortunato, the vehicle, a white Toyota Avalon, was returning from the annual Columbus Day flea market at Bromfield School. It had turned onto Still River Road and attempted to pass to the right of a black Saab sedan waiting to make a left turn into the parking area in front of the General Store. The Toyota jumped the curb, caught its right front fender on the cable supporting a utility pole, and rode part way up the guy wire before falling onto its left side, crushing a side-view mirror and trapping the driver and his wife inside.
There were no injuries, but the right rear panel of the Saab and right front assembly of the Toyota were damaged. Aside from a broken mirror, the driver side of the Toyota was relatively unscathed. After being righted, the Toyota was taken away on a flatbed by Terranova of Ayer, but the Saab was able to be driven away from the scene. Davis was cited for “improper passing on the right,” Sergeant John Coates later told the Press. Speed was not a factor.
‘So caring and kind’
Eyewitnesses said that when the car landed on its side, several bystanders rushed to free Davis and his wife, holding the car steady, removing the vehicle’s sun roof, and helping the pair out through its opening. Both occupants were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident.
Members of the Harvard police, two engines from the fire department, and an ambulance were at the scene within minutes. The occupants of the Toyota and the driver of the Saab, a Harvard resident, all refused treatment.
In a letter to the Press this week , the Davises praised “the people who helped us.” They were “so kind and caring,” they wrote.
