The driver of the second vehicle, 23-year-old Andrea Waldo of Huntington, is in fair condition
HOLYOKE – Police have identified the 46-year-old woman and 47-year-old man who lost their lives in a head-on crash late Thursday afternoon on Route 202 as Kathleen and Martin Tessier, of 16 Lawson Drive, Easthampton.
The driver of the second vehicle, Andrea Waldo, 23, of 25 Russell Road, Huntington, was listed in fair condition Friday at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Lt. Michael J. Higgins said.
The Tessiers were pronounced dead at Baystate, he said.
The accident occurred as Waldo drove west on Route 202. A witness told investigators that Waldo’s vehicle swerved to the right and then to the left where it crossed the double line and crashed head on into the Tessiers’ vehicle.
The Tessiers were in a 2002 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Kathleen Tessier, Higgins said. They were not wearing seat belts and their air bags deployed.
It’s not yet known whether Waldo had been wearing a seat belt and her air bag did not deploy, Higgins said, adding that she was outside of her vehicle, a 1994 Ford Explorer, and walking around shortly after the crash.
The impact of the crash pushed Waldo’s steering wheel off to the side, Higgins said.
The accident occurred west of Homestead Avenue on the stretch of Route 202 between the Ashley and McLean reservoirs, police said. Part of Route 202 was closed at Homestead Avenue as police investigated the accident.
Holyoke Police, state police and the Hampden District Attorney’s office are probing the crash.