A local man died in a three-car crash that police say was caused by snow and ice-covered roads in Hope Valley Wednesday morning.
Walter Brazenor, 65, of Hope Valley, was thrown from the passenger seat after his nephew lost control of their car on Spring Street and collided head-on with a vehicle in the oncoming lane, injuring a couple from Rockville, said Police Chief John S. Scuncio. The driver of a third car managed to avoid the collision, but swerved off the road and struck trees and a utility pole, Scuncio said.
Brazenor, whom rescuers found in the road with fatal injuries, had not been wearing a seat belt, the police chief said. Matthew Owens, 25, of Hope Valley, who was driving Brazenor, was taken to Westerly Hospital for treatment of injuries that weren't believed to be life-threatening, Scuncio said.
Jeffrey Thornlimb, 50, and Shelley Thornlimb, 44, whose car was struck by Owens' vehicle, were treated at South County Hospital and later released.
Although his car drove off the road, Daniel Venditto, 44, of Lisbon, Conn., was not injured.
As accident reconstruction crews worked at the scene of the crash on Wednesday, they ran tests on the ice-covered roads and determined that a car traveling at 30 miles per hour in Wednesday's conditions would have needed 195 feet to stop, Scuncio said Thursday. "I was just amazed at that," Scuncio said. "Thirty miles an hour isn't that fast, and when you've got to go two-thirds of a football field to stop, that's slick."
Units:
Engine - 912 and Special Hazards - 900 and cars 901 and 903 , HVAS - 311,312,313 and 1 rig from Ashaway
