State Police: Route 16 crash may have involved racing, wrong-way driver

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

Two cars may have been racing on Route 16 early today in Medford when one of them smashed head-on into a car traveling in the wrong direction, State Police said. Three people were seriously injured in the crash.

A 2001 Honda Civic carrying two 23-year-old Cambridge men crashed into a 2004 Honda Accord driven by a 30-year-old Somerville man that was traveling west in the eastbound lane.

All three men were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with serious injuries after the accident, which was reported at 12:25 a.m. But as of this morning, their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, said State Police spokesman David Procopio.

The Civic may have been involved in a race with a third vehicle that fled the area after the crash, he said.

Police are investigating why the Accord, which was not part of the race, was traveling in the wrong direction on the three-lane road. Procopio said alcohol impairment, distraction, fatigue, or a combination of those factors, may have played a role.