November 23, 2024
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Slick roads cause several accidents

BANGOR – A band of snow that fell across much of Maine Thursday was enough to make some roads slick and cause numerous accidents.

Early predictions had 2-3 inches of snow falling in Maine, with the coastal regions getting a little bit more.

By mid- to late afternoon, Dover-Foxcroft had received 2 inches of snow, and nearly as much – about 1.6 inches – fell in Bangor, said Derrick Weitlich, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou. But throughout the afternoon and evening, it kept snowing, despite initial expectations that it would slack off.

On Interstate 95, state troopers were busy handling more than a dozen accidents throughout the day from Newport to Millinocket.

Most accidents involved cars, trucks and SUVs that slid off the road into the median, officials reported. State police investigating the many accidents on the interstate said that in at least some cases, motorists were going too fast for conditions.

Kelly O’Donnell, 24, of Belgrade lost control of the pickup truck she was driving late Thursday morning and slid off I-95 near Exit 174 in Carmel. The pickup truck rolled over and landed on its side, but O’Donnell was wearing her seat belt and had minor injuries that didn’t require her to be transported to a local hospital, State Trooper Scott Hamilton said. The trooper said that O’Donnell was driving too fast for the road conditions.

In Clifton late Thursday afternoon, a motor vehicle slid off Route 9, snapped a utility pole and sent a Massachusetts woman to the hospital.

William Reade, 67, of South Dennis, Mass., was heading west on Route 9 about 4:15 p.m. when he lost control of the minivan he was driving, State Trooper Josh D’Angelo said Thursday evening. The 2003 Honda minivan went down an embankment and came to rest in a small stand of trees, near the intersection of Route 9 and Chick Hill Road.

Slippery road conditions and speed contributed to the accident, the trooper said.

The accident demolished the minivan and sent Joanna Reade, 68, to Eastern Maine Medical Center after she complained of neck and back pain. Her husband and a passenger, Edward Yonker, 84, of New Hampshire, rode in the Bangor Fire Department ambulance with Joanna Reade, but initial reports indicated that they were not injured.

The accident knocked out power to two Bangor Hydro Electric Co. customers. In snapping the 40-foot-tall pole into several pieces, the accident pulled the power lines from the customers’ buildings, Bethany McKnight, communications officer for Bangor Hydro, said Thursday.

The pole and power were expected to be restored later Thursday evening, although both customers affected will need an electrician to reconnect downed lines to the main power lines, she said. McKnight said that there were no other outages associated with the storm and an official with Central Maine Power said that there were no storm-related outages in that power company’s service area.

In Winn, an unidentified man was taken to Penobscot Valley Hospital for evaluation after his SUV slid into a utility pole and rolled over on Route 168 near East Winn School shortly after 5 p.m., said Capt. Chris Weed of the Lincoln Fire Department.

When Lincoln firefighters arrived – they were called because they have extrication equipment, which Mattawamkeag firefighters lack – they found the man inside the vehicle, which was on its roof, and Mattawamkeag firefighters trying to give him first aid, Weed said.

The officer handling the accident, state police Trooper Jennifer Fiske, was handling another rollover on Interstate 95 late Thursday night and did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

In the wake of the accidents, state police were warning motorists to take extra precautions and extra time to get where they were going.

In some places, the speed limit on the interstate was reduced to 45 mph. State Police Sgt. Mark Brooks said that leaving earlier and slowing down will go a long way to arriving safely and on time.

“If you drive slower and observe the 45 mph speed limits, your chances of a crash are a lot less,” he said.

BDN reporter Nick Sambides contributed to this report.


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