Hampton Rollover 'Could've Easily Been a Fatal,' Driver 'Lucky'

Area emergency responders had their hands full Friday morning due to numerous crashes along major roadways due to a light snowfall that created deceptively dangerous conditions.

Hampton Fire Capt. Dave Mattson said his department officially responded to three accidents on Interstate 95 Friday morning, although he said there were at least "seven or eight" additional accidents in the same area.

Many of those other accidents were minor, and Hampton firefighters were already on the scene of accidents around the Hampton toll plaza when they occurred.

Mattson said one of the crashes in particular was very severe and that the driver of the vehicle was "lucky" because of the way the car rolled over and landed in a treeline.

That rollover occurred around 9:20 a.m. on the southbound side of Interstate 95 near the Towle Farm Road overpass, according to Mattson. Mattson said the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee lost control while traveling around 60 miles per hour, which caused the vehicle to hydroplane over the compacted, melting snow on the highway.

The Jeep rolled into the nearby treeline and "crashed into a tree," according to Mattson, causing the driver — the vehicle's sole occupant — to be "heavily pinned." Mattson said crews used the jaws of life to extricate the driver from the totaled vehicle before transporting the individual to Exeter Hospital due to "minor" injuries.

"[The driver was] very fortunate from the way the car was smashed up and into the tree," said Mattson, adding that the car could've "landed a whole lot worse" than it did. "It could have easily been a fatal."

Similar highway crashes and rollovers occurred elsewhere in Hampton, North Hampton, Seabrook and Portsmouth during the morning commuting hours, in addition to a variety of spin-outs into snowbanks.

Mattson said there were no accidents on town roads, which he said is common during snowfalls like Friday's because "90 percent of the accidents" to which the department responds involve a "four-wheel-drive vehicles" traveling at a high rate of speed.

"People have four-wheel-drive SUVs and think they can do 60," said Mattson. "When you have no traction, 40 is an appropriate speed."

Mattson said it's all about "traction," not "how many wheels you have." He said large snowstorms typically make "people realize, 'Oh, it's snowing, so I can't go that fast,'" but he's found that drivers don't typically take that same kind of caution during lesser storm events even though they pose just as much of a danger.

"All it takes is a quarter of inch of water under your tire and you're gone," he said. "Light snow compacts easily. Once you're sideways, you're done."

Mattson said he was "glad" his department didn't have any severe accidents to which to respond on Friday morning. He also said there were fewer accidents Friday than during a similar snowstorm last week, which led to "10 or 12 accidents."