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Accidents mar morning commute

MILFORD – A Wilton woman was seriously injured in a car crash April 27 on Route 101 that police say might have been caused by sun glare. The accident was the fourth and last in a series of crashes that started that Wednesday evening and involved a total of six vehicles and injured five people.

Jillian Beaucher, of Wilton, was in a line of stopped traffic heading east on Route 101 near the Route 13 overpass around 8 a.m. when a vehicle driven by Bryan Thompson, of Manchester, pushed her car into the rear of a third car. No further information was available on Beacher’s condition. Thompson had minor injuries. A photo of the crash scene on the WMUR website showed a white van crashed into a gold sedan.

"There appears to have been sun glare, but traffic had been stopped on Route 101 east-bound," said Milford Police in a press release.

The string of accidents started shortly before 6:27 a.m. when police responded to a crash on Nashua Street at the exit and entrance ramps to Route 101 west. A vehicle driven by Paul Gianetta, of Nashua, was traveling east on Nashua Street when his vehicle collided with a second vehicle, driven by Eric Lavoie, also from Nashua, who was turning left to enter the west-bound on ramp. Both drivers were take to area hospitals with unknown injuries. The other three accidents don’t appear to be related to the Nashua Street one.

The second accident occurred on Route 101 when Alexander Scribner, of Peterborough, attempted to make a U-turn and struck a vehicle driven by Steven Johnson, of Merrimack, who was traveling in the opposite direction. Scribner was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries. The third accident, near the on ramp to Route 101 west-bound, resulted in minor damage to both vehicles and no injuries to the drivers.

Mutual aid from state police and from Amherst, Brookline and Wilton ambulance services helped the Milford Fire Department and Ambulance Service.

According to the Automobile Association of America, sun glare can be dangerous during spring and fall commutes. To avoid being blinded, drivers should slow down, flap down the sun visor and keep a distance between their cars and the one in front. The windshield should be kept clean. Milford Police would like to talk to anyone who witnessed the first accident, the one on Nashua Street. Call Sgt. Nathan Stone at 249-0630, ext. 365.