Accident Shuts Down Country Club Road

There were no apparent major injuries following a dramatic single vehicle accident on Country Club Road at 7:15 this morning. A mini-van driving west left the roadway at the curve just east of Smith Park, broke through two large cedar trees and a telephone pole, then rolled over and came to a halt on its side in the westbound lane. Country Club Road was shut down for over an hour while the accident was being cleared.

The Westfield Fire Department, Middletown Police, and Middlesex Hospital responded to the scene. The firemen cut through the roof of the vehicle with a saws-all to extract the driver. She did not appear to have any serious injuries, moving her arms and speaking to the rescuers.

UPDATE (1:30PM): Officer David Godwin of the Police Traffic Department told me her injuries were minor.

The road was dry when the accident occurred, and there was no sign of skid marks in the road. It appears that the driver simply failed to negotiate the turn. Residents of the surrounding houses say that there is a significant accident at least once a year on this curve. Some have called upon the city to regrade the road to make it safer.

Others point to the excessive speed at which many cars travel on Country Club Road. Joyce Powzyk said that while waiting at the school bus stop, she observes cars travel far faster than the posted 25 mph speed limit, "I would conservatively estimate that most cars and trucks are going 20 miles an hour above the speed limit, even as they come around the curve in the road."