Sunday’s blast of wintry weather wasn’t a repeat of the Feb. 25 chain-reaction crashes on Interstate 95, but it was enough to send dozens of cars spinning off the road and into one another.
Between 30 and 40 cars and small trucks were reported off the road or in minor crashes from Augusta to the Newport area beginning about 4 p.m. Sunday, Maine State Police Sgt. Blaine Bronson said Monday. There were no reported injuries.
About one-third of the accidents damaged the vehicles, but not all of them needed to be towed, Bronson said. The rest were simply slide-offs that had to be pulled back onto the roadway.
Bronson said he didn’t think any tickets were issued by state troopers.
“You’d think it was the first storm,” Bronson said. “I think everybody’s just stir crazy, just hoping, praying that it’s over and they forget that it’s still winter. You would have thought it was the first snowstorm of the year. Crazy.”
Like the crashes last month – the worst in state history – imprudent speed and slippery road conditions caused the crashes, Bronson said.
On the morning of Feb. 25, a series of accidents involved more than 140 vehicles along a four-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Carmel. Thirty-two people were treated for injuries.
A total of 102 vehicles were involved in 31 separate reportable crashes that morning, while an estimated 40 more slid off the road with minimal or no damage, according to the investigation.
None of the injuries in the crashes involving 149 people was life-threatening, and only 17 people were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital, both in Bangor, for treatment.
In Sunday’s series of accident, Bronson said, the sudden snow took motorists by surprise. He said the road had not been treated before the accidents occurred.
“We had that storm that came in – kind of the back end from the north – and when it did, it just coated the road,” Bronson said. “The road got slick and people just started sliding off and the chain reaction kept moving people off. Going too fast for the conditions absolutely was the problem.”
Copy the Story LinkSend 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.