CUMMINGTON — Two people riding a three-wheeled motorcycle were hospitalized with serious injuries after a collision Saturday afternoon with an SUV on Route 9 near the West Cummington Cemetery.
Fire Chief Adam Dragon said a call came in about a vehicular accident just before 3:30 p.m. Dragon was the first responder on the scene, although there were a number of bystanders present when he arrived.
“There were many many bystanders,” Dragon said. “Doing what they could.”
Among those bystanders were two nurses who were assisting at the scene before Dragon’s arrival.
“It’s nice to see people willing to stop and lend a hand,” Dragon said.
The motorcycle operator, a 70-year-old Cummington man, and passenger, a 70-year-old Cummington woman, were conscious and talking at the scene, Dragon said. The man was taken to Baystate Medical Center via Highland Ambulance, and the woman was flown via helicopter to Baystate after Northampton Ambulance called in the airlift due to the time it would take to drive her to the hospital.
Northampton Ambulance took the woman to Pettingill Memorial Field for the helicopter flight.
Dragon said the three people in the SUV involved in the accident were largely unharmed.
State Police are still investigating the crash, but it appears that the SUV crossed the double yellow line into the eastbound lane, Dragon said.
According to State Police, the vehicle’s driver was a 70-year-old woman from West Lebanon, N.H., who suffered minor injuries and was cited by police. The motorcycle involved in the accident was a 2001 Honda while the SUV was a 2021 Subaru Forester.