Less than a week after a New Hampshire man died in a fiery crash at the Bedford toll booth, three more people are in the hospital after a head-on collision at the very same plaza.
The lawmakers who have been pushing to remove these toll booths for years say this is why they believe that doing so could save lives.
Scott Defreitas, 52, died after crashing into the Bedford toll plaza, three more people put in the hospital for doing the same.
A red pick-up truck driving the wrong way collided head-on with a white BMW in the latest crash Tuesday morning. It’s yet another example of why a few New Hampshire state reps have been pushing to do away with these cement blocks for years.
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“The man from Nashua who died the other day is just one of many people who died so we just wanted to speed the process up," said New Hampshire Rep. Tim Horrigan.
“Anytime you put something in the middle of the road, people can hit it," he added.
“They would have been entirely preventable if we would just move toward this as quickly as we can," added Rep. Josh Yokela.
Massachusetts started ripping out its toll booths back in 2016. But that takes time – something New Hampshire lawmakers worry about. Horrigan filed a bill in 2022 to make all New Hampshire tolls electronic. The measure eventually made its way into the Department of Transportation’s 10-year plan.
A $16-million project to tear down the toll plaza here is expected to start in the fall, but it will take a few years to complete.
