A 53-year-old West Baldwin man was killed in a two-car collision on Chadbourne Road/Route 35 in Standish around 5 a.m. Wednesday.

David Fortin was not wearing a seatbelt when his 2005 Pontiac four-door sedan collided with a 2007 Volkswagen sedan being driven by Vivian Densmore, 38, of Naples.

Densmore was headed west when she crested a rise and lost control on a slight curve, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. She crossed the center line and the front passenger side of her car collided with Fortin’s vehicle.

Densmore is in critical condition at Maine Medical Center. Fortin was pronounced dead at the scene.

That stretch of road has a speed limit of 50 mph, but Densmore appeared to be driving too fast for the conditions, which were snowy and slippery, the sheriff’s office said. It was not known how fast each car was going at the time. Alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the crash.

Route 35 was closed between School Street and Route 237 Wednesday morning while emergency crews cleared the crash scene.

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Route 35 between Whites Bridge Road and Route 114 in Standish has been the scene of some serious crashes in recent years.

In 2012, a St. Joseph’s College sophomore from Bangor was killed when the car he was riding in went off Chadbourne Road, rolled several times and landed in a chain-link fence. He was ejected from the car and killed. Three other students in the car were injured.

The driver was sentenced to 16 months in prison for manslaughter.

In 2004, a driver with a suspended license was driving intoxicated when involved in a fatal crash.

Data provided by the Maine Department of Transportation showed that there were 184 crashes over the past 10 years in that stretch of road, 50 of them with injuries. In addition to the two fatalities, there were six crashes with serious injuries, 18 with moderate injuries and 24 with minor injuries. It was not known whether that number was high compared to other roads in the state.

In 32 cases, drivers were exceeding the posted speed limit and in 12 crashes, too fast for the conditions, the data showed. In 44 crashes, the driver was following another car too closely.

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In 19 crashes, at least one driver was under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication.

There are currently no initiatives underway to make changes to the road. The crash data has not triggered a review at the state level and the town has not requested a traffic study, according to a spokesman for the Department of Transportation.

David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Mainehenchman

 


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