Light snow leads to icy roads, crashes

Friday’s snowy weather lacked the punch of a real winter storm, but it still posed problems for motorists and the police who handled their accident complaints.

Police agencies throughout the region were busy handling everything from fender benders to rollovers as snow and rain slickened Maine roads.

State troopers handled about 16 accident reports during the day across Penobscot, Washington and Hancock counties, a dispatcher said early Friday evening. Most of those were weather-related, he said.

Hampden police were called to four accidents in a little more than an hour Friday afternoon, although two turned out to be outside the town limits and were handled by other agencies, according to police.

In the most severe Hampden accident, a motorist trying to slow down on Coldbrook Road hit a patch of black ice and her car spun out, rolled over and came to rest upside down over a ditch by the side of the road, Hampden police Sgt. Dan Stewart said Friday.

The driver, Morag Murray, 77, of Hampden, was still in the car when authorities reached her.

“She was hanging upside down in her car when we arrived,” Stewart said.

Stewart broke a passenger side window with his baton so that an ambulance crew could assess the woman’s condition and remain with her until she could be removed from the car. Rescuers used an extricating device to help Murray from the vehicle.

The motorist was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor where her condition was not immediately available.

Stewart said the accidents should serve as a reminder to all motorists about the safety hazards that wintry weather brings, especially so early in the season.

The road conditions Friday were treacherous, and what appeared to be clear streets and roads were actually icy, Stewart said. What little snow fell on roads in the Bangor region melted under the heat and friction of car tires, then froze, creating black ice, he said.

“In weather like this, it’s very deceiving,” Stewart said. “Everyone thinks it’s bare pavement, but it’s not.”

With winter weather here, motorists should allow for more travel time as well as add more distance between their vehicle and the one ahead of them, Stewart said.

National Weather Service officials in Caribou said coastal and interior Hancock and Washington counties were expected to receive 1 to 2 inches of snow Friday night, with precipitation letting up early this morning.

Today is expected to be partly cloudy, with temperatures in the low to mid-30s.

Meteorologist Michael Fitzsimmons said skies in Aroostook County were mostly clear Friday night, with temperatures in the single digits and a 50 percent chance of snow showers early on. Wind chill factors were expected to dip below zero.

Waldo County experienced light snow Friday night, with temperatures in the 20s. Knox County received the brunt of the winter weather, with Owls Head receiving 8 inches of snow and Camden receiving 6 inches, with precipitation tapering off as the evening progressed.