Authorities say they were able to rescue an older couple that crashed their car into the woods in Petersham, Massachusetts in the middle of the night thanks to a special kind of vehicle technology.
The Petersham Fire Department said it responded shortly before 4 a.m. to Route 122 near the New Salem town line, where a car had gone off the road and "traveled into the woods."
"The vehicle was not visible from the road, making locating the occupants especially challenging," the department said.
The couple did not have a way to call 911. But they were lucky to have a Toyota Safety Connect system in their car that knew there had been a crash and automatically alerted dispatchers to their location. Automatic collision notification is one of the features offered by Safety Connect, according to Toyota.
Massachusetts State Police and the Athol Fire Department assisted with the search efforts for the couple, and first responders "heard them calling for help within the woods," authorities said. They found the pair trapped inside their car and unable to get out.
Photos show heavy damage to the car and airbags deployed inside. But luckily the couple only had minor cuts to the face.
"Without the Toyota Safety Connect notification, it is unknown how long this couple would have remained trapped in the vehicle before being discovered," the department said. "This incident is a powerful reminder of how important emergency notification technology can be."
Petersham is in Worcester County, about 70 miles north and west of Boston.
