GREENLAND — University of New Hampshire student 22-year-old Kathlyn Garvey was driving north on Interstate 95 on her way back to campus when a car suddenly approached her from the wrong direction Monday night.

“She was driving along and she looked up and there were headlights coming at her. She was able to swerve to the left, which is really what saved her,” her mother, Jackie, said Tuesday.

Garvey avoided a full head-on crash with a 2010 Chevrolet Aveo driven by Rose M. Vitiello, who was killed after leaving a trail of accidents between Portsmouth and Greenland.

Investigators are still trying to figure out why the 56-year-old New Haven, Conn., woman drove south in the northbound lane for several miles.

“We know what happened, but we don't know why,” State Police Lt. Nicole Armaganian said of the accidents, which started around 10 p.m.

Armaganian said police will not rule out drugs or alcohol as possible factors until they receive blood test results.

After the collision with Vitiello, Kathlyn Garvey's car rolled several times before landing on its roof in the median, but she was able to escape the crushed vehicle with only some cuts and bruises.

“Someone was watching over her,” Jackie Garvey said.

State Police Trooper Alexander Davis said Vitiello is believed to have begun driving south in the northbound lanes somewhere around the New Hampshire-Maine border and drove for several miles before crashing under the Ocean Road bridge in Greenland.

According to state police, Vitiello's Aveo first struck another vehicle in the northbound lane as she approached Exit 3 in Portsmouth, causing that vehicle to flip over in the grassy median. The woman driving the other vehicle, whose name wasn't available, was transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital with minor injuries.

State Police said Vitiello then hit a second vehicle, but kept heading south. That driver wasn't hurt, police said.

Vitiello continued traveling the wrong way into Greenland. It was there she nearly hit Garvey's 2008 Volkswagen Jetta head-on. Garvey, of Northborough, Mass., was taken to Portsmouth Regional Hospital, where she was treated and released.

After crashing into Garvey's car, Vitiello's Aveo came to rest in the right breakdown lane of I-95 northbound under the Ocean Road overpass.

Shortly after that collision, two other vehicles traveling northbound struck debris in the roadway. Neither of the drivers was injured, police said.

“I'm amazed that for the length of time that this woman was driving in the southbound lane that it didn't cause more serious accidents,” Portsmouth Assistant Fire Chief Steve Achilles said. “It was an unfortunate ending, but it could have been worse.”

He said Vitiello had to be extricated from her car. She was pronounced dead at Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

The accidents are being investigated by Trooper Brian Gacek of the New Hampshire State Police/Troop A and members of the New Hampshire State Police Technical Accident Reconstruction Unit. Anyone with information is asked to contact Trooper Gacek at 223-8490.

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Jason Schreiber may be reached at jschreiber@newstote.com.