A Brewer man was killed early Tuesday in the state’s first fatal moose collision since 2012.

Sidney Oakes, 60, was driving a Dodge Grand Caravan south on Interstate 95 in Howland at 1 a.m. when the van hit the moose, killing Oakes. Officials said Oakes died at the scene. He was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, a Skowhegan man is expected to recover after his car hit a moose last week on Route 15 in Monson, police said.

David Richards, 52, director of the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, was driving north on Route 15 on July 3 when a moose walked in front of his Hyundai sedan, said Guy Dow, an investigator for the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office.

The moose landed in the car and was killed as a result of injuries suffered in the accident, he said.

Richards, who suffered cuts and bruises to his head, was taken to Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital in Greenville, Dow said. A nursing supervisor said Tuesday that he was no longer at the hospital.

The vehicle was destroyed in the accident, Dow said.

The state records more than 500 moose-vehicle crashes each year, according to Maine State Police. Two people died in separate moose crashes in 2012 and three in 2010. There were no fatal moose crashes in 2011 and 2013.

Police said residents need to be wary of moose at night because the dark-colored animals can be hard to see and their height means their eyes do not reflect car headlights. Moose sometime dart into the road during the summer to escape insects and are especially active at night, police said.

Morning Sentinel reporter Rachel Ohm contributed to this report.