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A high-speed crash on Sunday evening, November 24, 2024, in Norwalk sent two passengers hurtling from a vehicle and left the driver pinned inside the mangled wreckage. The Norwalk Fire Department responded to the scene near Connecticut Avenue and Elmhurst Terrace just after 5 p.m., where a red SUV had slammed into a guardrail with such force that it continued about 100 feet before coming to a stop.
Firefighters found the driver trapped in the crumpled cabin and used hydraulic rescue tools to extricate him. The two passengers had been thrown from the car upon impact and were discovered in thick brush on the opposite side of the guardrail. All three victims were transported to Norwalk Hospital with injuries of unknown severity as of Monday, November 25, 2024.
The crash remains under investigation by the Norwalk Police Department. Authorities are examining factors including speed, driver impairment, and whether seatbelts were in use. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), ejection from a vehicle is one of the most lethal outcomes in a crash, and proper seatbelt use reduces the risk of ejection by about 45%. In 2022, nearly 11,000 unrestrained occupants died in motor vehicle crashes nationwide.
“This is a stark reminder of the importance of buckling up,” said Norwalk Fire Department spokesperson Lt. John Smith in a statement Monday. “When a vehicle hits a guardrail at high speed, the forces involved can be catastrophic. Our crews train extensively for these scenarios, but the best outcome is prevention.”
The stretch of Connecticut Avenue where the crash occurred is a known trouble spot. Local residents have long complained about speeding and dangerous driving on the road, which curves near Elmhurst Terrace. Data from the Connecticut Department of Transportation shows that between 2019 and 2023, the
