April 18 — Motorists’ misery on Route 24, Tiverton

TIVERTON — Bad crashes, one after another last Tuesday, sent one driver to the hospital and then to court, kept police and firefighters busy much of the day, and repeatedly turned Route 24 into a parking lot.

The mess began at 9 a.m. when Abigail Morey, 30, of Bristol, was driving north on Route 24, lost control of her 2010 Honda, and it became suspended on a guardrail wire.

That wire prevented the car from rolling into the median, said Tiverton Police Capt. Pat Jones, but it also trapped her in the car and complicated the rescue.

Firefighters used the jaws of life to free the driver and she declined medical treatment.

But concerned that the wire, which was pulled tight, might snap and, whip-like, injure somebody, rescuers called the state Department of Transportation to release tension on the wire.

Once that was done, the car was removed. The roadway was closed for the better part of an hour.

Crashes #2, 3

At 2:59 p.m., a car driven by Ervina Sinko, 41, of Fall River, had a violent crash with a guardrail on the southbound side of Route 24 near the Fish Road exit (moments after police received reports of an erratic driver all over the road).

Her car, a Jeep Grand Cherokee “struck and rode the guard rail which, in essence, ripper the car apart” from below.

As the car’s underside was torn apart, the driver’s seat and driver fell through the frame, causing serious injury to the driver.

After she was extricated, the driver was rushed to the hospital; later she was charged with drunk driving and refusing a chemical breath test.

When that accident happened, Capt. Jones said that another driver, an 84-year-old Tiverton man, braked hard to avoid the Jeep and was struck from behind by a car driven by a 41-year-old Tiverton man. Their cars were damaged but neither man was injured.

The roadway was shut down entirely for 15-20 minutes and then one lane only was opened for another hour.

While this was being sorted out, police and firefighters were also called to a brush and shed fire off East Road (see separate story).

Crash #4

At 5:30 p.m., police and firefighters were called back to Route 24 north for another crash.

This one was less serious and, though traffic was heavy, delays were not substantial.