Mother, daughter killed in wrong-way crash

OLD LYME, Conn. (WTNH) -- Police in Old Lyme are investigating a wrong-way crash that killed three women Tuesday night.

The accident occurred around 9 p.m., on I-95 Southbound, near Exit 70.

Tamara Nolin, 71, of 17 Pepperwood Lane, Branford; 90-year-old Marjorie Minore, of 27 Allen Rd., North Haven, and her 63-year-old daughter Barbara Prato, of 12 Maple St., East Haven, were all killed in the crash.

Frank Sundstrom, 51, of 89 Nausauket Rd., Warwick, RI, was seriously injured in the crash.

Not much is left of the Nissan that was carrying the three women southbound on I-95. Sundstrom was driving his car the wrong way, northbound in the southbound lanes.

The calls started coming in to 9-1-1 just after 9 p.m.

One 9-1-1 caller said,  "I'm traveling southbound on 95 at the Baldwin bridge and I just passed a wrong way driver on the left hand shoulder."

And within moments the two cars collided. The damage shows that it was almost head on.

"Route 95 Southbound, Old Saybrook. Two cars completely destroyed on the highway," said a 9-1-1 caller.

Another  9-1-1 caller  from the accident said,  "one of the cars is completely demolished. I see one car kind of on the ramp, going into the other lane, and the other on the right hand side of the road."

As awful as this latest accident is, it's just the latest in a string of accidents caused by wrong way drivers, taking many lives and affecting a lot of people far away from any of the crash scenes.

"It's a ripple effect. It doesn't just effect the victims, it just doesn't effect the drunk driver's family, it effects the community," said Janice Margolis, the executive director of CT MADD.

Just hours before Tuesday's crash, News8 met with the local director of Mother's Against Drunk Driving, to talk about a new study, showing that wrong way drivers kill 360 people a year, and the main reason behind those deaths is alcohol.

"We see a number of families that have been destroyed because there is a wrong way driver on the highway. The thing I can tell you that I know, would help to stop this sort of tragedy, is the use of ignition interlock devices on all convicted drunk drivers," said Margolis.

Police are still investigating how and why Sundstrom drove his car onto the highway going the wrong way.

Anyone who saw it happen is asked to contact Troop F at 860-399-2100.