Accident Reconstruction Network > News > September 2005 > 09/02/05

Accident Reconstruction News Article

LONDONDERRY — A 20-year old man was killed in a head-on collision between a pickup truck and a heavy duty TruGreen ChemLawn truck on Litchfield Road yesterday afternoon.

Christopher Bicchieri, 20, of Londonderry was killed when the 2003 Toyota Tundra he was a passenger in slammed head-on into a TruGreen truck near 30 Litchfield Road.

The accident occurred about 1:30 p.m., and police shut down traffic until 6:30 p.m.

Londonderry Police said the driver of the Toyota, Jeffery Murphy, 18, also of Londonderry, and a juvenile female passenger who was riding between Murphy and Bicchieri, were both taken to Elliot Hospital with serious, but not critical injuries. Police did not release the name and age of the female passenger but said she was transported from Elliot to Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon. Police said the driver of the TruGreen truck, Charles Putnam, of Manchester, was uninjured.

Londonderry Police Lt. Mark Cagnetta said the Toyota was traveling on the wrong side of the road when it struck the TruGreen truck, but other than that details are still sketchy.

"We're not sure what the pre-accident activities were, but we do know that somehow the Toyota pickup ended up heading eastbound in the westbound lane," he said.

Cagnetta said investigators were still trying to determine whether speed, alcohol or drugs played a part in the accident.

According to Cagnetta, there were no witnesses, but the female passenger was conscious and was able to briefly provide limited information to police.

Cagnetta said the woman had no recollection of the actual accident, but suggested that Bicchieri may have seen the TruGreen truck and tried to protect her.

"She did say Chris must have seen they were about to get in an accident because he put his arm out and leaned over to protect her," Cagnetta said.

None of the Toyota's occupants were wearing seatbelts and only Bicchieri and Murphy had airbags protecting them. Bicchieri's attempt to save the female passenger might have contributed to her surviving the accident, Cagnetta said.

"I'd say their injuries would've been minimal," Cagnetta said, explaining that using both a seatbelt and airbag can strongly protect the head and torso. "I think seatbelts always help — airbags work great, but are not designed to work without seatbelts."

-RT>Police say they're still reviewing the information collected by the accident reconstruction team and are reviewing the details provided by the driver of the TruGreen truck, but according to Cagnetta, criminal charges are "a definite possibility."

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