One driver was killed and another seriously injured Tuesday night in a crash on Route 1 in Woolwich.

The accident took place just north of the Taste of Maine restaurant around 6:30 p.m.

Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel A. Merry said a northbound Jeep Wrangler driven by Walter M. Crosman, 45, of Wiscasset was in the process of passing another vehicle on the right – in the Route 1 breakdown lane – when the Wrangler hit that vehicle, a 2002 Toyota sedan driven by Jennifer Blackwell, 25, of Brunswick. The Wrangler then crossed the centerline and struck a southbound car.

Merry said the collision killed Crosman and injured the southbound driver, Emma Leonard, 17, of Boothbay, who was driving a 2002 Subaru station wagon. Leonard was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with what Merry described as “serious but non-life-threatening injuries.” Blackwell was not injured.

“We are not sure why Mr. Crosman was attempting to pass the other vehicle,” Merry said in a statement. “There is no apparent reason why the driver did what he did.”

A section of the road was closed to traffic for nearly four hours while deputies from the sheriff’s office investigated the accident and cleared debris from the crash site. Route 1 reopened to traffic at 10:30 p.m.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com