CHELMSFORD, Mass. (AP) – A 24-year-old Pelham, N.H., woman was killed when she apparently lost control of her car in a construction zone on Route 3 and was thrown from her car.

Kara Martell, 24, was driving north in the high-speed lane at 12:22 p.m. Tuesday when she swerved, running off the lip of the road, said Bob Mentus, who saw the accident.

“Speed is believed to be a factor but it wasn’t really excessive,” said Trooper Dave Parsons. “She was passing other traffic but she wasn’t flying.”

Parsons said her car drifted into the median first and she overcorrected to the right and her tire blew out. The car rolled over three or four times at that point, he said.

Martell was not wearing a seat belt, according to Parsons.

State Trooper Dave Desmond said she was driving about 65 mph in a 45 mph zone, based on witness information and their measure of a mark left by the car’s tire.

“If she just tried to stay off the road she would be fine but she tried to get back on and when she got sideways, that’s when she started flipping,” Mentus said.

AP-ES-10-29-03 1852EST

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