South Kingstown Woman, 49, Injured In NH Snowmobile Crash

PITTSBURG, NH — A South Kingstown woman was injured in a snowmobile crash in New Hampshire, the state's Fish and Game department reported. This was the second snowmobile crash in New Hampshire involving a Rhode Islander in just a few weeks.

The crash happened around 4 p.m. Thursday near Beach Road in Pittsburg, New Hampshire. Betty Jane Volpe, 49, was driving the rented snowmobile and accidentally hit the throttle while making a turn, which caused her to lose control of the vehicle and hit a tree. Volpe was tossed from the vehicle and into the tree. Other members of the riding party found her and gave her a ride back to her rented cabin.

Back at the cabin, the pain worsened, causing the other members of the party to call 911. Volpe was taken by ambulance to Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook and treated for noon-life-threatening injuries.

Conservation officers determined the crash was mainly caused by operator inexperience, the department said, adding that Volpe was wearing proper safety gear at the time of the crash.

Volpe was the second Rhode Islander to be injured in a New Hampshire snowmobile crash this month. Less htan a week earlier, Warwick resident Alexandra Portes De Beltre was seriously injured when she failed to negotiate a turn and rolled her snowmobile in Gorham.