SKOWHEGAN, Maine — A local woman was taken to a hospital after being hit by a pickup truck about noontime Thursday.
Donna Burrill, 60, of Skowhegan was struck while walking in a crosswalk on Commercial Street, Skowhegan police Officer Herb Oliver said.
Oliver said Douglas Foster of Solon, driving his 2008 Chevrolet Silverado, made a left turn onto Commercial Street. Foster glanced to his right while making the turn and “when he turned back, there were two pedestrians in the crosswalk. He hit the brakes and turned to the right, but still struck one of them,” said Oliver.
Burrill was taken to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan.
“They did X-rays but found no broken bones. She just got banged up some,” said Oliver. “She’s going to be sore for a few days with bumps and bruises.”
Oliver said Foster was driving 10-15 mph before he slammed on his brakes.
“He wasn’t going very fast. He probably slowed down quite a bit by the point of impact,” said Oliver, who added that he saw no reason to charge Foster for the incident.
The speed limit is 25 mph through that area. Weather did not play a role in the crash, added Oliver.
“She was lucky he wasn’t going any faster than he was or that it wasn’t a bigger truck. It could have been a lot worse than it was,” said Oliver.
And the pending charges are … ?
Says he’s not being charged in the article, but he could probably still be sued by the pedestrian.
I was there 30 seconds after the first responder arrived
The driver was not at fault
The pedestrian was not at fault
The design of downtown Skowhegan is at fault. If your familiar with the area,Route 201 is broken off from a straight path of roadway and intentionally detoured though the downtown Skowhegan area.
In other words, Route 201’s heavy traffic flow is forced to travel the downtown Skowhegan circle. While your traveling though the downtown Skowhegan loop, one must pay attention to traffic coming from multiple other directions while AT THE SAME TIME watch for pedestrians. The heavy traffic meets pedestrian traffic, people get hurt.
Take a look at this google picture.
Your looking from the view the driver of the truck that hit the pedestrian
Look at the truck in the photo, that is the direction you are about to go.
As you are turning a sharp left..just like a u turn. you have to keep an eye on traffic:
traffic passing you on the right lane
traffic coming out of Patten Court
traffic coming from the yield sign in front of the blue building
traffic coming from the Stop sign on Court Street,which is hidden
ALL AT THE SAME TIME…and the crosswalk is just in front of that bush
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=skowhegan&ll=44.765768,-69.717184&spn=0.000785,0.001475&client=opera&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&hnear=Skowhegan,+Somerset,+Maine&t=m&z=19&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=44.7657,-69.717842&panoid=ONLACQgOSxG7j7iYmrEWnw&cbp=12,39.27,,0,11.43