Two injured in ‘chain-reaction’ five-car crash in Lynn

LYNN — Two people were injured after a car rear-ended another car at a red light, which caused a “chain-reaction” crash that involved three other vehicles Thursday morning on Broadway, Lynn Police Lt. Michael Kmiec said. 

The crash, which occurred shortly after 10:30 a.m., was caused by a car that rear-ended another car that was stopped at a red light near the intersection of Broadway and Boston Street. This car then struck another car, which sent this third car into the back of a cement truck, Kmiec said. 

Kmiec said this crash involved five vehicles, four of which were stopped at the red light. It was caused by a 24-year-old Lynn woman who lost control of her car because her dog fell into the floorboard of her vehicle, he said. 

“She had the dog in the front seat and the car was still moving, and then she went to go pick the dog up and she rear-ended one vehicle, which then caused the chain reaction,” said Kmiec. “Five vehicles were involved.” 

While traveling down Broadway, the woman struck another car, causing subsequent collisions — this second car, operated by a 56-year-old Saugus woman, struck the car in front of her, which was driven by an 87-year-old Revere man, who then proceeded to hit a cement truck that was stopped at the light in front of him, Kmiec said.  

In the process, another vehicle, which was stopped in the right lane and about to turn onto Boston Street, was sideswiped by one of the vehicles that was involved in the crash in the other lane; the four other vehicles were traveling in the lane that continued straight onto Broadway, Kmiec said. 

The woman told police that as she tried to hit the brake, her dog fell down to the floor. She hit the other car when she tried to get the dog up, Kmiec said. The woman has been issued a citation for traffic violations, he said. 

The 56-year-old Saugus woman and 87-year-old Revere man, who were driving the first two vehicles that were hit, were taken to Salem Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Kmiec said. 

The driver of the cement truck was not injured. His vehicle sustained minor damage from the crash, said Lynn District Fire Chief Joseph Zukas. 

“It’s amazing that nobody died in this,” said Zukas. “It was like a chain-reaction type of accident.”