Fatigue blamed for Route 3 crash

TRENTON – An Ellsworth man escaped serious injury when he fell asleep while driving home Saturday morning and crashed into a utility pole near the Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport on Route 3.

Joseph A. Lane, 18, was returning from Mount Desert Island after helping his mother deliver the Bangor Daily News when he nodded off and drove his 1990 Ford car head-on into a utility pole about 8:45 a.m., according to State Trooper Greg Mitchell.

“He was very, very lucky,” Mitchell said. “He received minor injuries to his nose and facial area.”

Mitchell estimated that Lane struck the pole at 40 mph or more. Lane was wearing a seat belt. His car was a total loss.

“The speed limit is 40 through there, but everyone knows people drive faster than that,” Mitchell said.

Lane’s car veered off the road away from oncoming traffic, or the accident could have been much worse, the trooper said.

Motorists on the busy highway weren’t so lucky, however, as police rerouted traffic to Route 230 for an hour before reopening both lanes on the only road to and from Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park.

Traffic was backed up about four miles in both directions most of the day and all the way to Ellsworth just after the accident, Mitchell said.

And that was after scores of cars turned around and headed away from the island once they saw the traffic jam and emergency vehicles.

The Fourth of July holiday weekend is among the busiest for the island and national park all year.

Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. crews worked all day to repair the pole and the intricate wiring attached to it, Mitchell said. Power was knocked out to some customers along the highway, but most service was restored by late morning.

Volunteer firefighters from Trenton stood by for most of the day, while a Bangor Hydro crew worked to install a new pole. The Trenton volunteers directed traffic throughout the day, relieving police, Mitchell said.

Mitchell said Lane told him he had been up since 2 a.m. The trooper said motorists need to be sure they’re not too tired to drive. “The only thing that takes care of fatigue is rest,” he said.

County Ambulance drove Lane to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth, and he was treated and then released.