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Speed seen as possible factor in head-on crash death in Tewksbury

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 10, 2009 03:46 PM

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

A 50-year-old woman is dead after her car struck a motorcycle and then collided head-on with another car in Tewksbury this morning. Police said they believe, based on witness accounts, that speed may have been a factor.

Laurie King, 50, of Lowell, first hit a motorcycle with her Chevy Cobalt as she was driving east on Route 133 (Andover Street) and Green Meadow Road around 9:30 a.m.

Witnesses told police King was trying to pass the motorcycle, said Tewksbury Police Lieutenant Ryan Columbus. The male motorcyclist was taken to Lowell General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“It’s unknown if she knew that she hit the motorcycle,” Columbus said.

King, who was driving a Chevy Cobalt, continued driving for half a mile and then struck a Jeep Commander driving in the opposite direction head-on. The female operator of the Jeep was taken to an undisclosed hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, Columbus said.

King was pronounced dead at Saints Memorial Medical Center in Tewksbury.

The State Police accident reconstruction team scrutinized the scene of the accident, which closed Route 133 for several hours. The crash is under investigation.