Infant thrown 30 feet from SUV in Route 1A wreck – and lives

DEDHAM – When rescuers arrived Wednesday at the scene of a wreck in front of the Lucerne Inn, 10-week-old Baila Greenberger lay on the road’s yellow line, where she had been thrown when her parents’ rented sport utility vehicle flipped over and skidded into an oncoming utility truck.

Baila, who was secured in a plastic child carrier when she flew out through one of the vehicle’s windows, landed about 30 feet from the wreck.

The infant was ejected in midair from the carrier, which landed halfway between the child and the vehicle, according to Deputy Ken Mitchell of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.

Baila suffered serious head injuries and was taken by LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. But the baby was not in critical condition and Mitchell said there was a chance she could be released Wednesday night.

Baila’s parents, Nicola Greenberg, 30, and Zeev Greenberger, 35, were visiting Maine on a vacation from their home in London. They had rented the Isuzu Rodeo and were driving north on Route 1A about 2 p.m. Wednesday when Greenberg became distracted and lost control of the vehicle, police said. She drifted off the right shoulder, overcompensated and flipped the SUV, which began skidding across the road on its roof. Police do not believe speed was a factor in the accident and had not determined what distracted Greenberg.

Joseph Springer, 29, of Dixmont was driving south in his Tel Power Inc. utility truck when the Rodeo skidded into his lane. Springer swerved but could not avoid the vehicle, police said.

Hancock County sheriff’s deputies investigated the accident Wednesday afternoon, but could not determine precisely how the baby escaped the careening Rodeo.

“When everything came to rest, the baby was lying in the road. The windows were busted out. I don’t think we’ll ever really know how it happened,” Mitchell said.

The carrier, which Greenberg had brought with her from England, was not the type of child safety seat typically used in the United States.

Rather, the seat was a sort of small cradle with handles, which was sitting on the Rodeo’s seat and not secured by a seat belt. Maine law does not specify the style of car seat to be used. It requires, however, that all children under 4 be secured in a seat that is belted into the vehicle.

Mitchell said that although the carrier meets safety seat requirements in Britain, local police weren’t sure Wednesday night whether it meets U.S. requirements. No charges have been filed.

The adults in the Rodeo were wearing their seat belts and suffered only minor injuries to their heads and hands, police said. They were treated at the scene, then taken to EMMC by ambulance. Both were released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.

Springer was not injured and called police to report the crash.

Damage to the utility truck was estimated at $1,000. The Rodeo was demolished.

Officers from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and members of the Dedham Fire Department shut down one lane of traffic on Route 1A near the accident site for several hours Wednesday afternoon while the accident investigation was being completed.