A car traveling south on Depot Road in Hollis, New Hampshire veered off the roadway early Wednesday morning, overcorrected, crossed into the opposite lane, and slammed passenger-side first into a tree, trapping one occupant inside the wreckage and sending the other to the hospital. Emergency crews responded around 4:30 a.m. to the crash site near the Route 111 intersection, where firefighters had to use hydraulic extrication tools to cut both adults free from the mangled vehicle.
The vehicle involved was a Toyota bearing New Hampshire plates, according to Patch, which reported that crews freed the driver first before extracting the trapped passenger. The driver was able to exit the vehicle and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said, as reported by NBC Boston. That driver was later taken to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua, per the same Patch account.
Passenger Airlifted With Serious Injuries
The passenger remained pinned inside the car until fire and EMS personnel completed the rescue, and was then flown to a hospital in Massachusetts for treatment of serious injuries, NBC Boston reported. Police have withheld the names of both injured occupants pending family notification, per the station's report.
Investigators believe excessive speed was a contributing factor in the crash, according to police statements relayed by NBC Boston, though the case remains under investigation. New Hampshire law also regulates vehicle speed.
A Rural Stretch Feeding Into a Busy Commuter Route
New Hampshire Route 111 runs from the Massachusetts border in Hollis to North Hampton on the Atlantic shore, passing through Nashua, according to background compiled on Wikipedia.
The Hollis Police Department, led by Chief Brendan LaFlamme, fields 18 sworn officers covering a town of roughly 8,500 residents, according to department profile records published by PoliceApp. Police are investigating what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway.
Part of a Statewide Pattern on Rural Roads
Traffic Crashes and Road Safety Traffic crashes occur in New Hampshire. Rural roads are part of the state's road network, and run-off-road crashes are a national traffic-safety issue.
New Hampshire also remains the only state in the country without a mandatory seat belt law for adult drivers and passengers 18 and older, requiring restraints only for minors under RSA 265:107-a, according to a June 2025 policy brief from Citizens Count. The same brief found adult seat belt usage in the state averaged just 77.9% in 2023, well below the 91.9% national average. State transportation data indicates roughly 30% of New Hampshire's fatal crashes involve occupants who were not buckled in, though whether seat belts were a factor in Wednesday's crash has not been addressed by investigators.
