Ellsworth fog causes two similar accidents

ELLSWORTH – Thick fog is being blamed for two similar accidents that happened one minute apart Thursday in the same intersection.

Barbara MacTaggart, no age given, of Ellsworth was driving a Subaru east on Christian Ridge Road around 9:30 p.m. Thursday when she failed to stop where the road meets Route 1A, according to the Ellsworth Police Department. She blew through the T-shaped intersection and struck the opposite curb, causing $1,500 in damage to her vehicle.

According to Officer Glenn Moshier, MacTaggart said she did not see the intersection because the fog was so thick. She complained of back pain after the accident but declined medical treatment, he said.

One minute later, Dedham resident Melissa Shaffer, 54, did the same thing. She was driving a 2002 Subaru east on Christian Ridge Road, did not see the intersection, and drove into the curb on the far side of Route 1A, causing $1,500 in damage to her vehicle. Shaffer, who was not hurt, also told police the fog was too thick for her to see Route 1A or the stop sign at the end of Christian Ridge Road.

Though the accidents happened only one minute apart, the vehicles did not hit each other, according to police reports.