Woman Crashes Car Through Guardrail, Careens Down Embankment

An elderly woman drove her car through the guardrail at the end of a deadend Salem street and down an embankment on Wednesday night - into a dog play area planned to open for the first time on Thursday.

The crash happened at about 7:15 p.m. when a Toyota Prius, driven by a female in her 70s, went through the guardrail at the end of Porter Street and dropped nearly 75 feet down to Florence Street - behind the Salem Car Wash just off Canal Street.

The car ended up in the play area for Healthy Hounds Doggie Daycare, just three hours after the fence was completed for the outdoor dog play area, according to owner Rachel Hill.

“We opened yesterday and this happened today,” Hill said, adding that at the last minute she decided against Jersey barriers going up in an area that ended up being a rock pile.

“She went over the guardrail and down the hill into our newly erected fence...days of work and thousands of dollars.”

The car was secured and Salem firefighters worked to get the woman out of the car, who was freed about 20 minutes after the crash. She had no serious injuries.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. No other vehicles were involved and nobody except the driver was in the car.

Image Credit: Rachel Hill