Camden man dies in Route 1 car-moose crash

BELFAST ? A 78-year-old Camden man died Wednesday from injuries suffered Tuesday night when the car he was driving struck a moose.

Police Chief Jeffrey Trafton said Wednesday that Richard Feldborg was driving east on Route 1 in a 1998 Lincoln Town Car when the vehicle struck a moose.

The animal landed on the windshield and roof of the car.

The crash was reported about 8:45 p.m. by Brandon Smith. Smith witnessed the aftermath, but not the collision. It occurred near the Belfast-Searsport line.

Officer Brian Lunt said the moose apparently was returning to the woods north of the highway after a visit to the shore.

Moose are known to come to the shore to lick salt from the rocks. Feldborg probably did not see the moose until his car struck it, Lunt said, since there were no skid marks preceding the spot of the collision. Moose eyes do not glow when illuminated by headlights, the way those of deer and other animals do, Trafton said.

The dark color of a moose’s coat also makes it difficult for drivers to see them. The collision occurred on a stretch of Route 1 between street lights, Lunt said. The car continued another 200 feet with the moose on it before it crashed into a guard rail, Lunt said.

Feldborg was taken by ambulance to Waldo County General Hospital, then taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor where he died at 2:12 p.m.Wednesday. The car was registered to a Camden-based limousine company.