214 people killed in Maine highway crashes last year, 9 more than in 1991, officials say

AUGUSTA — A total of 214 people were killed in Maine highway accidents in 1992, the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety reported Monday.

The 214 highway deaths were nine more than the 205 people killed in 1991. But it was five less than the five-year average of 219 people killed each year.

Richard E. Perkins, director of the Bureau of Highway Safety, attributed the increase in fatalities from 1991 to many factors, including alcohol use.

While the overall trend in alcohol-related deaths has been downward for the last five years, the rate was up slightly in 1992 from 35.6 percent to 37.85 percent.

“A goal of this bureau and the Maine Highway Safety Commission each year is to constantly remind people that impaired driving is still our most serious highway safety problem,” said Perkins.

The safety bureau said that 80 percent of the 169 victims in passenger vehicles were not wearing seat belts.

“Many of these victims would be alive if they had taken the time to buckle up,” Perkins said.

Besides the 169 who died in passenger vehicles, 16 pedestrians were killed, four pedal cyclists, 23 motorcyclists, an occupant of a tour bus and a person riding on the outside of a vehicle.