Police: Driver In Fatal NH Crash Had No License
HAMPTON, N.H. (CBS) - The driver who allegedly caused a fatal car crash when she slammed into a group of bicylcists had no license, according to the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles.
Hampton Police also say they had pulled her over about seven and a half hours before the crash for speeding.
So far, however, 20-year-old Darieann Hess of Seabrook, New Hampshire has not been charged for the accident.
But Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams tells WBZ-TV criminal charges are possible.
The crash left two people dead, and two others injured. The four were part of the same group taking part in an annual bike ride along the coast.
"It's horrible, it's horrible," said Margo Heigh. "I'm devastated."
Heigh has been treated and released from a local hospital and is bruised from head to toe, but says her physical injuries are nothing compared to the anguish of losing two of her dearest friends, Pam Wells and Elise Bouchard.
"We spent a lot of time cycling together, they were wonderful women, they were both the kindest women I ever knew," said Heigh from her Danvers, Massachusetts home Monday.
It was Margo who had brought the two women together over the summer to train for the annual Seacoast Century Ride.
"And I always wanted the two of them to meet each other and we finally all met and spent some time together and had a wonderful season training," said Heigh.
The three, along with Elise's boss, Uwe Uhmeyer, were an hour into the bike ride and everything was perfect.
"It was a beautiful day, it was sunny and gorgeous and I was in the front, and I remember Elise behind me, and Uwe and Pam all talking about what a beautiful day it was and how much fun it was going to be," said Heigh.
But everything changed in a split second.
"And they were so happy, they were so happy and then the the next thing I knew there was a car on the wrong side of the road, headed at me, that's all I remember," said Heigh. "My brain told me something was very wrong with this picture and that it was a nightmare, I was about to be in a nightmare, and I was right."
The accident happened on a bridge over Hampton Harbor.
Pam and Elise were killed. Uwe is in the hospital with broken bones.
"I'm just hoping some kind of awareness can go out to drivers that we all really need to share a road and to be careful and to be aware of cyclists and pedestrians," said Heigh.
Tom Rogers, the husband of Pam Wells, says the family is working on a college fund for the couple's two teenage children.
The Granite State Wheelmen, which coordinated the event that brought out hundreds of bicyclists, declined to speak on camera but told WBZ-TV over the phone that it was meeting with its insurance representatives and attorneys.
"It was just a fun ride," said Dave Topham. "This was no accident. This was a crash. A crash is avoidable."
