Icy roads cause several crashes on Mount Desert

MOUNT DESERT – The worst icing conditions in a long time created dangerous driving conditions Monday morning and resulted in several accidents involving state and town plow trucks.

“The roads were just glare ice,” said Trooper Carlton Small of the Maine State Police. “You couldn’t even stand on the road.”

There were no serious injuries from any of the accidents. All occurred between 5 and 8 a.m.

A Maine Department of Transportation truck driven by Timothy Wilbur, 37, of Hancock was heading up a hill on Route 102 when it lost traction and slid into the opposite lane, Small said. Maynard Young, 25, of Seal Cove was traveling in that lane and attempted to stop. Young’s pickup truck also skidded on the icy road, and the two vehicles collided head-on.

As officers were tending to that accident, a second DOT truck, driven by Robert Beal, 47, of Ellsworth, came on the scene, passed the two vehicles and tried to continue up the hill, according to Small. Beal also was unable to get up the hill and tried to back up while dropping sand on the road to give himself traction. As he backed up, however, his truck slid into a pickup truck that was parked on the side of the road.

Both DOT trucks had chains on their tires at the time, Small said.

In the meantime, two town trucks had similar problems on Route 198 near the intersection with Route 233.

The first truck was traveling on Route 198 and slid on the icy road, winding up in the turnout area, according to Officer Kevin Edgecomb of the Mount Desert Police Department.

The second truck, driven by Michael Condon, 36, went by that scene but, about a tenth of a mile farther on, he skidded on what Edgecomb described as a “mirror of glare ice.” The truck slid to the side of the road, and when it hit the snow there, it tipped over onto the driver’s side.

Condon was taken to Mount Desert Island Hospital in a private vehicle and later was released. He had no serious injuries, Edgecomb said.

Traffic backed up behind the accident scene, and several vehicles unable to get up a hill pulled to the side of the road. By that time, the second DOT truck was back on the road and was headed to the area in order to spread sand on the road.

As the driver, Beal, approached the line of cars, his truck slid on the ice into a vehicle, driven by Mark Smith of Mount Desert, that was pulled over to the side of the road.

Officers closed that portion of Route 198 until crews could get sand on the road.

Total damage from the accidents involving the state trucks was estimated at $6,000, according to Small. There was no estimate on the damage to the town truck that tipped over.

Icy conditions were widespread throughout Hancock County on Monday morning, and there were several other accidents reported in different towns. There were no injuries reported in any of those accidents.