Sal Maiorana

Three people in a red Chevy Cobalt were injured, including one child critically.

The driver of the Cobalt apparently tried to exit quickly off Goodman and was side-swiped.

Interstate 490 westbound reopened after being closed down for over three hours following a serious two-car collision Wednesday afternoon.

The collision sent three people to Strong Memorial Hospital, one in critical condition. All lanes reopened around 4:45 p.m.

The accident occurred at 1:35 p.m. just before the Goodman Street exit, and the highway was closed at the Interstate 590 split so that traffic could divert north and south in the hopes of alleviating a massive traffic jam in the city.

The female driver of a red Chevrolet Cobalt and two children were injured in the crash. One child, believed to be a boy approximately 7-8 years old, was seated in the passenger side rear seat and sustained the most serious injuries, though fire and police spokesmen were unable to detail those injuries.

The other child and the driver were not as seriously injured, but were still transported to the hospital. The driver of the other vehicle, a yellow Humvee, remained on the scene and was talking to police investigators. He appeared unharmed, but police information Officer Mark O’Donnell was not willing to confirm that.

“We have yet to interview the operator of the red vehicle due to the injuries, so as soon as we interview and talk to other witnesses and get accounts of other statements, we’ll have a clearer picture of what happened,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said it appears the female driver was in the center lane and darted quickly to the right. The Humvee had just entered I-490 from the Monroe on ramp when it struck the red car.

“Preliminarily, we believe she just decided at the last minute that she had to get off the exit at Goodman Street and made a bad decision and cut in front of the Humvee,” O’Donnell said.

The Cobalt was totaled while the Humvee was damaged and ended up on its side.

“With volumes of traffic, people are moving at high rates of speed and people get distracted,” said O’Donnell. “There are so many distractions in their motor vehicles and they forget where they’re going sometimes and they make a horrible decision like this one. If she had gone to the next exit and turned around, it might have cost her five minutes.”

Rochester Fire Department battalion chief Tom May said the rescue operation was greatly aided by the fact that off-duty battalion chief Chris Peer happened to be nearby and he was able to call in the accident and provide details which helped the rescue crew navigate its way to the scene. Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn was also on the highway and pulled over to lend assistance.

“It gave us some info we didn’t have,” said May. “Which direction on 490, what’s the best access for the guys and what equipment we were going to need, so it was a nice plus. It helped us get here quicker. It was about eight minutes from the time we got here to getting both patients out of the vehicle.”

MAIORANA@Gannett.com