JAY — The driver of a car that collided with a pickup truck on Route 156 on Tuesday told police his accelerator stuck and he couldn’t stop, police Chief Larry White Sr. said.

David Blanchard, 70, of Wilton was traveling west when his gas pedal stuck and he threw his 1996 Oldsmobile Sierra into reverse to try to stop it, but it didn’t work, White said. He pulled into a parking lot and the car whipped back out into the road and struck a 2009 Toyota Tacoma driven by Helmut Bitterauf, 67, of New Sharon, White said.
Both vehicles landed in a ditch.

Bitterauf suffered burns on his arm from an air bag and Blanchard had a bump on his head, but both refused medical treatment, White said.

Blanchard’s car was towed to Hilltop Collision Center and impounded for state police inspection. Bitterauf requested his truck be towed to the same garage. Both vehicles were demolished, White said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

Two men were injured Tuesday morning when a car driven by David Blanchard, 70, of Wilton struck a pickup truck driven by Dr. Helmut Bitterauf, 67, of New Sharon, on Route 156 in Jay, police Chief Larry White Sr. said. Blanchard told police the accelerator stuck and he couldn’t stop the car.

David Blanchard, 70, of Wilton told Jay police officer John Irving that the accelerator on his car stuck Tuesday morning and it collided with a truck operated by Dr. Helmut Bitterauf, 67, of New Sharon, on Route 156 in Jay, police Chief Larry White Sr. said.