NORTHAMPTON — No one was injured after two vehicles — a white sedan and a black SUV — collided head-on in a wrong-way collision at the Interstate 91 exit ramp off Route 5 Monday morning, according to Northampton Fire Deputy Andy Breen.
Northampton Fire and Police responded to the collision with airbag deployment at the highway ramp at approximately 9 a.m.
Breen said occupants had left both vehicles by the time the Fire Department arrived, adding that an on-scene medical evaluation determined no one was injured. He said that Northampton Police took over the scene after the fire department used an absorbent mineral product to clear motor vehicle fluids from the roadway.
“It sounded like [the driver was] turning from Route 5 up onto the highway and turned onto the northbound side, where people were trying to exit,” Breen said.
In Massachusetts, AAA Northeast reported, 135 people died from wrong-way crashes between 2018 and 2025. There were more than 5,700 wrong-way crashes on all types of roads, according to the auto group, citing an analysis of data from the state’s IMPACT crash portal.
The Senate in May adopted an amendment to its fiscal 2027 budget that aims to prevent wrong-way and drunk driving.
The amendment would require the state to establish a comprehensive plan to eliminate instances of wrong-way driving, including lighting systems, signage and detection devices that alert wrong-way drivers and notify public safety agencies of wrong-way driving incidents.
This report includes information from the State House News Service.
