AUGUSTA — A Hallowell man died Wednesday morning when he lost control of a motorcycle while exiting Interstate 95, and his bike struck a tractor-trailer, Maine State Police said.
Edward Lingley, 33, was killed instantly, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of a Public Safety, in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
The crash was reported just before 8 a.m. on the section of ramp that provides access to and from I-95 south, and shut down the ramp for more than two hours.
It was the latest fatal crash in what’s been a deadly year on Maine roads, and a deadly two months, according to data from the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety that McCausland provided.
Since Aug. 1, 45 people died in traffic accidents in Maine, according to the bureau. And the state’s overall highway death toll this year is 123, up 17 percent from the 105 reported during the same period in 2016.
The Wednesday morning crash was the eighth motorcycle death this month on Maine roads, bumping the total number of statewide motorcycle deaths this year to 19. It follows a Sept. 10 crash on I-95 in Augusta that killed two motorcyclists who were participating in the United Bikers of Maine Toy Run.
On Wednesday, investigators found that speed was a factor in Lingley’s crash, which did not injure the driver of the other vehicle.
“Lingley was traveling too fast as he exited Interstate 95,” McCausland said. “The bike slid on a sharp curve, and then struck the trailer portion of a tractor-trailer in the opposite lane.”
The long-haul truck was pulling an empty flatbed trailer. It was driven by Joseph Forsey, 43, of Shelbyville, Illinois.
The ramp closure occurred during the morning commute. A heavy layer of fog covered that section of highway, and all entrances to I-95 from Western Avenue were closed.
Soon after the crash was reported, state police troopers parked their cruisers along busy Western Avenue, which is also U.S. Route 202, and were directing drivers away from the on-ramps. The fog blocked any views of the accident scene.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.