A car crashed on to the side of New Britain Avenue in West Hartford on Saturday night after going over the guardrail along an elevated section of Interstate-84.
Emergency crews responded after 6 p.m. across from the Shops at Corbin’s Corner in West Hartford to a blue SUV lying on its passenger side. West Hartford firefighters, police, and ambulances blocked the right lane of New Britain Ave. allowing first responders to get to work, using the jaws of life to pierce through the car’s exterior.
Dozens of onlookers stopped to watch and wait for an update on the driver, who was eventually pulled onto a gurney and loaded into an ambulance. Kenan and Mary Aksoz witnessed the crash as they were traveling to their son’s soccer game, and they spoke exclusively to NBC Connecticut.
Kenan described the moment he realized the driver of the blue SUV had lost control of his car in the left lane. “It wasn’t like somebody just cutting you off. Actually, when I saw it, it was already kind of skidding across,” he said. “I hit the brakes… all of a sudden he went right in front of me, over the guardrail.”
Mary, his wife, said she immediately wanted to call 9-1-1, but was instantly interrupted by the sound of another crash. “I look back and the whole back window of our rental was blown out,” she said. The force of the impact knocked a lamp post down onto the back of the Aksoz’s rental car, shattering the rear window.
Given the circumstances, she said she is grateful more people were not hurt.
Miraculously, the driver suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to an email from state police.
