On Saturday March 14, 2009 at approximately 1:42 PM a three vehicle collision occurred at the intersection of Church and Summer streets. Arriving officers found a heavily damaged vehicle on its roof and expected the worst. Officer Richard Munger crawled inside the overturned vehicle certain he was dealing with traumatic injuries to the occupants. To his surprise the operator, Joan Aiello of Waltham, was still firmly situated in the driver’s seat because she was wearing her seatbelt. Rescue personnel assisted Mrs. Aiello from the vehicle; she sustained only minor bumps and bruises.

Sergeant Joseph Deignan, traffic division commander, will be nominating Mrs. Aiello for the “Saved by the Belt” award. The accident investigation showed that Mrs. Aiello had been traveling south bound on Church Street and was struck by a motor vehicle that ran a red light traveling East bound on Summer Street. The force of that collision flipped Mrs. Aiello’s vehicle onto its roof and it skidded down Church Street until it struck another vehicle that had been traveling North Bound. Had Mrs. Aiello not been wearing her seatbelt the outcome of this accident would have been far more severe.