5-year-old taken to hospital after car crash on Interstate 95

BANGOR – A 5-year-old boy was taken to a hospital Friday after a car driven by his father struck another vehicle on Interstate 95 between the I-395 and Hammond Street exits.

The 7:35 a.m. accident in the northbound lane held up traffic for about 30 minutes, according to Maine State Police.

Trooper Darren Vittum said a 2001 Lincoln Town Car driven by Michael Poirier, 55, of Brewer merged into the driving lane without yielding, cutting off a 1973 Plymouth Barracuda driven by Wesley Archer, 37, of Hampden.

Witnesses told police that Archer attempted to pass the Town Car on the left, but stepped too hard on his gas pedal, spinning the tires and causing the Barracuda to swerve into Poirier’s Town Car in the right lane. Archer then hit a guardrail on the left.

Archer’s 5-year-old son, Jakob, was treated at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and later released, a hospital nursing supervisor said Friday night.

Vittum said the Barracuda had at least $10,000 in damage, and the Poirier’s car had $8,000 in damage.

No charges have been filed, and all seat belts were fastened at the time of the wreck, Vittum said, adding it took 45 minutes to clear the scene.