Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS The wreckage of one of the two vehicles involved in a head-on crash on the Everett Turnpike at Exit 8 late Wednesday night lies in the road after rescue crews removed the driver. Two people were seriously injured.

NASHUA – An Audi Q7 whose driver, Nashua resident Matthew L. Wicks, reportedly missed an Everett Turnpike on-ramp and ended up traveling in the wrong direction, crashed head-on into another vehicle late Wednesday night, sending both drivers to hospitals with serious injuries, state police said.

Wicks, 37, reportedly accelerated just before his Audi crashed into the other vehicle, a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe that was driven by Carol B. Gates, 50, of Greenville, according to police.

Gates was transported to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center with what police described as serious injuries. A trauma alert had reportedly been activated at the hospital.

Meanwhile, a second AMR ambulance was dispatched to the scene as firefighters worked to extricate Wicks from the wreckage of his vehicle. In evaluating his condition, paramedics requested a medical helicopter, which Boston Med-flight supplied.

Police said the helicopter flew Wicks to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for treatment of what they described as serious, and life-threatening injuries.

According to state police, Wicks was driving on Southwood Drive, which intersects with Somerset Parkway not far from the turnpike’s Exit 8 on- and off-ramps.

They said witnesses reported seeing his Audi “miss the right hand turn at the intersection with the off ramp and enter into the opposite lane, heading east in the westbound lanes” for Exit 8.

Police said a preliminary investigation indicates that driver impairment and speed were factors in the crash.

State police ask that anyone with any additional information on the crash contact Trooper Daniel Roger at Troop B headquarters at 223-4381 or daniel.roger@dos.nh.gov.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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