3 people hospitalized after Waldo car collision

WALDO – Three people, including a 2-year-old girl, were hospitalized Friday afternoon after a two-car collision on Route 7.

Maine State Police said limited visibility of southbound traffic at the location was the cause of the crash.

Robert Butterworth, 60, of Waldo was driving north along Route 7, also known as Moosehead Trail, in a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee when he made a left turn to enter a driveway and crossed into the path of Fred Sidelinger, 75, of Belfast, who was driving south on Route 7 in a 1992 Toyota Corolla, according to Maine State Police Trooper Lucas Cunningham.

Sidelinger and his passenger, Elizabeth Trask, 27, of Monroe, and Trask’s 2-year-old daughter were transported by Searsport and Belfast ambulances to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast. Trask’s daughter was then transported by LifeFlight to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for treatment of leg injuries, and Trask went by LifeFlight later for treatment of internal injuries, said Cunningham, the investigating officer at the scene.

Police said they could not determine whether Sidelinger was wearing a seat belt at the time of impact, although he was not wearing one when help arrived.

Trask was wearing a shoulder harness but not a lap belt, and the child was in a safety seat that was not belted in the vehicle.

The driver of the Jeep had no injuries, Cunningham said.

Neither speed nor alcohol were factors in the crash, he said.

“There’s limited visibility of southbound traffic at that location,” Cunningham said.

Belfast police assisted with traffic control at Route 7 and Head of the Tide Road, and the Belfast Fire Department responded with a truck.

Sgt. Thomas Ballard and Trooper Elisha Fowler of the State Police Barracks in Thomaston assisted Cunningham at the scene.