Three-car crash on Route 1 claims life of West Peabody woman
Ethan Forman and Mike Stucka
DANVERS | A three-car accident on Route 1 yesterday morning killed a West Peabody woman, injured three others and shut down a three-mile stretch of the highway for an hour and a half, state police said.
Buck C. Bishop, 18, of Danvers was driving a 1999 Volvo S70 sedan south on Route 1 in Danvers when he crossed into the northbound lane and collided head-on with a 2000 Mercury Sable sedan being driven by Joyce E. Oliver, 73, of 30 Surrey Lane, West Peabody, state police said.
Oliver was taken by ambulance to Beverly Hospital, where she was declared dead, police said. Bishop had minor injuries, and an ambulance took him to Beverly Hospital.
Just after Bishop's car collided with Oliver's at approximately 9:12 a.m., a 1997 Honda Civic driven by Matthew B. Schlosser crashed into both the Volvo and the Mercury. Schlosser, 25, of Cambridge, and his front-seat passenger, Heather K. Rahhal, 31, of Dorchester, suffered minor injuries and were taken to Beverly Hospital.
Oliver, the mother of two daughters, was described by a neighbor as a somewhat private person who always tried to help other people.
"She was a wonderful woman, very helpful in the neighborhood," said Joseph Romei, who lived across Plymouth Street from Oliver for nearly 40 years. Romei said he last saw her on Tuesday.
He said that after a friend became a widower, Oliver | known as Joy to many | brought home-cooked meals to him. She had problems walking through her former split-level home on Plymouth Road and moved a few blocks away to a single-level home on Surrey Lane five years ago. She was always asking about the old neighborhood, Romei said, and never broke her connection.
"Joy always worked at the polls, always," Romei said. "Every time we went down to vote, you knew you would run into her, down at the Burke School."
Yesterday's accident is being investigated by the state police, who will determine if charges will be filed against Bishop.
A state police accident reconstruction team was called to the scene, just 50 feet from the Danvers-Topsfield town line.
Police and firetrucks were at the scene until 10:40 a.m., when a MassHighway crew spread sand on the road and the highway was reopened in both directions.
The accident happened on a stretch of highway near the woods in the vicinity of the "Entering Topsfield" sign, adjacent to the former Page estate and to the north of a lot where new cars are stored.
Shortly after the accident, troopers who responded from the state police barracks in Danvers closed the highway in both directions, diverting drivers heading north at the Ferncroft rotary, while southbound traffic was diverted at Route 97.
The state police collision analysis and reconstruction section, the Essex County state police detective unit, and the state police crime scene services section are investigating.
Danvers and Topsfield police and fire departments assisted at the scene, as did MassHighway.
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A towing company removes two of the three cars involved in a fatal accident on Route 1 in Topsfield Friday morning.Ethan Forman/Staff Photo(Click for larger image)
