Massachusetts college student describes missing wrong-way I-495 crash by seconds: "I don't know why I got so lucky"

Three people were hospitalized Tuesday night after a wrong-way driver caused a crash on Interstate 495 that left one vehicle engulfed in flames, according to Massachusetts State Police. Another driver described the harrowing moment he narrowly avoided a head-on collision.The crash happened around 9:50 p.m. in Chelmsford.The driver who is accused of going the wrong way on the busy highway suffered life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Their name has not been released. Chelmsford wrong-way crashCampbell Twitchell, a UMass Lowell student, said he narrowly avoided a head-on collision moments before the crash."All I saw were a pair of headlights and a white car, so I just turned my wheel quickly and started fishtailing all across the highway for maybe 100 meters until I spun out and 180ed into the woods," Twitchell told WBZ-TV.Twitchell said the encounter happened suddenly as he was driving home from class."I was just driving home from school like every other normal day and all of a sudden something that could've killed me is 20 feet in front of me. I narrowly avoided it," he said. "It just went from 0 to 100 instantly."A nearby resident, Jim Martines, said he witnessed the aftermath from his home overlooking the highway."The highway is right in my backyard, and I seen the big flame," Martines said. "That's when I took a picture of it, and I just kept looking out at all the police and fire trucks keep coming.""I don't know why I got so lucky"Martines said crashes are not uncommon along that stretch of I-495."There's a lot of accidents here on 495 that happen a lot, so it's not the first time at all," he said. "It happens a lot here on the strip, and I don't know why."Twitchell added that several drivers stopped to check on him after his vehicle spun out. One man gave him a ride so he could meet his mother down the road. He said he is grateful for their help.State police are investigating the cause of the crash."I don't know why I got so lucky. But it's a weird feeling, because seeing what happened further down and thinking that could have been me had I been a fraction of a fraction of second later," Twitchell said.