Van’s driver badly hurt in moose crash Passenger suffers minor injuries

TOWNSHIP 2 RANGE 9 – A Canadian man was in serious condition at a Bangor hospital on Wednesday after the minivan he was driving collided with a moose near Interstate 95’s mile marker 237.

David Clarke, 45, of Nova Scotia suffered severe head and chest injuries in the collision about 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, state police Trooper Thomas Fiske said Wednesday.

Clarke might have been airlifted to the hospital, but bad weather grounded LifeFlight helicopters Tuesday night. An ambulance took him to Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln, and he was transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor shortly thereafter, Fiske said.

A passenger, Todd Higgins, 43, of Nova Scotia, suffered similar but much less severe injuries, Fiske said. He was taken to Penobscot Valley Hospital, treated and then released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The 2000 Dodge minivan was headed north on I-95 when the moose came onto the highway from the median and the collision occurred. The minivan came off the highway and slammed into a tree before stopping, Fiske said.

The minivan received severe front-end and windshield damage from the moose’s torso and was totaled.

The men suffered their injuries despite wearing seat belts and having air bags that deployed, Fiske said, from the collision with the moose – or from the tree after the bags had deployed.

Clarke remained in EMMC’s intensive care unit Wednesday afternoon.