Head-end crash hurts two as state announces effort to calm traffic on Everett Turnpike
Oct. 6—An driver on the Frederick E. Everett Turnpike in Merrimack rear-ended a pickup and pushed the truck into a third car just before 6 p.m. Wednesday, state police said.
According to a news release from New Hampshire State Police, Anil Patel, 50, of Nashua was driving toward a patch of traffic around Exit 10 to Merrimack's Industrial Drive when state police said he rear-ended the pickup truck in front of him.
The force of Patel's car, state police said, pushed the pickup into the next car.
Patel and the pickup driver were treated for minor injuries after the crash.
State police said they believed Patel did not slow down enough as he approached the busy section of highway, during a busy evening commute in light rain.
The crash came as state police announced stepped-up patrols on to prevent speeding on the turnpike, where at least seven people have died in crashes in the last five years.
State police said there had been a "heavy early morning presence" of troopers on the turnpike during the morning commute, an attempt to nudge drivers to slow down, but it is not clear if state police were patrolling the turnpike on Wednesday evening.
Nashua police and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office have announced their own traffic-control patrols, after repeated reports of aggressive driving on the turnpike and the highways that cut through Nashua.
