AUGUSTA, Maine — Deadly weekend crashes claimed the lives of six residents and put the number of deaths on Maine roads at more than 50 percent above last year at this time, officials say.
“The six highway deaths bring the state’s total for the year to 46 compared to 30 deaths at this time a year ago — a 53 percent increase,” Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Monday in a statement.
Speed was a factor in nearly 59 percent of this year’s deadly crashes. At least one-third of the deaths involved alcohol and 15 percent involved teenagers.
“The Bureau of Highway Safety says speed has been a factor in 27 of the 46 highway deaths so far this year and alcohol is involved in, at least, 15 of the fatal crashes,” McCausland said.
Seven people between the ages of 16 and 19 and five young adults between 20 and 24 have died in crashes this year, Michelle Ward, a fatal accident system analyst with the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, said Monday.
While the beginning of 2012 has started off with more road deaths, “Maine has had four exceptional safe years on the roads and last year was the safest year since 1959,” McCausland said.
The state recorded 136 traffic fatalities in 2011 — matching a benchmark set in 1959 — and last year’s figures showed a significant decrease from the 160 highway deaths in 2010, Ward said.
The 2011 highway deaths included “15 motorcycle fatalities, 16 teenagers, between the age of 16 and 19, 11 pedestrians, no bike and no moose and 15 commercial vehicle[s],” she said.
In 2009, 159 people died on Maine roads, and in 2008 the figure was 155.
In 2007, the state recorded 183 traffic fatalities, and in 2006 it had 188.
The deadliest year ever for Maine highway deaths was 1970, when 276 people were killed, McCausland has said.
The United States has seen a declining highway deaths trend that started in 2009, according to statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2010, 32,885 people died in traffic crashes in the U.S. and in 2011 the number dropped to 32,310, the lowest number of fatalities since 1949, the agency said.
The weekend deaths in Maine included two men who were killed Friday night in a crash in Newfield. WCSH-6 of Portland reported that the victims were identified as Moses Gerry, who was driving the vehicle, and passenger Jonathan Seaman. Speed was a factor in the crash.
A Northport man died Saturday evening in what Maine State Police said was the second motorcycle fatality of the riding season.
Donald “Skip” Rogers, 64, had been riding a Harley-Davidson on Route 52 about 6:30 p.m. when he went off the road on a curve and flipped into a ditch, according to McCausland.
Rogers was not wearing a helmet and the likely cause of his death is head injuries.
“Alcohol is a likely factor in the crash,” McCausland said.
Road conditions were good at the time of the crash. Four state police troopers went to the scene.
In Sanford on Saturday, a Shapleigh woman died after a vehicle she was a passenger in was broadsided, according to police.
Marlene Lewis, 73, of Shapleigh was pronounced dead at the scene, Sanford Deputy Chief Tim Strout said Monday.
Shirley Clements, 70, of Sanford, driver of the 1996 Toyota that Lewis was traveling in, was heading southbound on Main Street when she attempted to turn left into a shopping plaza, Strout said. A 2003 Chevrolet heading north slammed into the passenger door of the Toyota.
Clements was taken to Goodall Hospital in Sanford for a possible broken leg, Strout said. The occupant of the other vehicle was not injured.
Police say a Belmont man died after his car went off Route 32 and struck a telephone pole in Windsor just after noon Sunday
Timothy Simmons was driving south on Route 32 when his car left the road, traveled along a ditch and struck the pole. The car ended up on its roof.
State police say speed appears to be a factor and the 44-year-old Simmons likely died instantly. Alcohol is not considered a factor but the accident remains under investigation.
Simmons was wearing his seat belt.
Authorities called off the search Sunday night for a Skowhegan woman presumed killed Saturday night when her car drove into a river in Fairfield.
Divers probed the murky water near a bridge until Sunday night and did not find the body of Cora Marley, 62.
Fairfield police Sgt. Matthew Bard says a warden’s service aircraft would fly over the area Monday, but it was unlikely divers would return to Martin Stream, tributary of the Kennebec River.
Marley is the sister of former state Sen. Ken Gagnon.
Witnesses driving behind her said her vehicle was driving erratically and the brake lights didn’t come on before the car veered into the water.
In addition to the six fatal accidents on Maine roads, authorities said three people found dead in a Jeep in a bog in Windsor over the weekend apparently were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes as the driver tried to accelerate out of the mire.
Officials identified the victims as 41-year-old Reginald Gay, his wife, 33-year-old Samantha Gay, both of Windsor, and 22-year-old Luke Thompson of China.
Authorities say it appears the vehicle got stuck and exhaust fumes entered the enclosed passenger compartment.
The state medical examiner’s office has ordered additional toxicology tests to confirm the cause of death.
BDN writers Ryan McLaughlin and Abigail Curtis and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Probably the increase is weather related in that folks could actually get out of their hibernation early this year.
I’d like to know what the percentage rate is since the use of cell phones.
No mention of how dangerous tail gating is. I was travelling the speed limit the other day on Route 7 and had a clown about 6 inches off of my bumper. A State trooper passed us going the other way and made no attempt to turn around and cite the clown. I was driving my daughter’s little car and he was driving a full sized four wheel drive truck, or I would have locked them up and jumped out to give the jerk my impression of a very irate 6″-5″ former Marine who didn’t like being tail gated. Then I would have been the one who went to jail. I never read about any tickets being issued for this gross offense.
It’s really very simple, pull over and let the pinhead go by. No big deal. You would likely not even remember it now if you had done that.
Thanks for your service.
Sage advice and a true pacifist’s approach. My approach would cut down on repeat offenses though. That is why it is called deterrent. Your approach would not prevent the next person from being placed in peril by the same pinhead. What if it was you he was tail gating and an animal or child ran out into the road in front of you and you had to slam on the brakes? He wouldn’t even have time to think about hitting his brakes, let alone having any margin of stopping distance. He would end up on trial for your manslaughter and his defense would be that he didn’t know that following too close was dangerous. Since there is still no law against being a dim wit, he would either walk or receive a slap on the wrist. You would be just as dead either way. Sharing the road with a pinhead should not be a crime punishable by death.
I agree that the police should pull people over for tail gaiting more often although they do some tail gating themselves.
But conditions warranting I always try to pull over to let people get by me and no one has ever accused me of being a pacifist before. What’s the big problem with doing that?
I see lots of people who probably think they are going the speed limit who slow down on curves where they don’t need to then speed up, talk on their cell phone, wave to the neighbors, slow down for the chipmunk that’s trying to decide whether to get killed or not and on and on. If you’ve got a couple hour drive ahead of you, that can waste a lot of your time if you are behind them.
I agree with you and your analogy.
Pacifist.. That’s funny because there is a loaded 38 in my truck all the time.
Everything you said is true but it would support letting him pass as soon as you know that he wanting to get past you. No, I’m no pacifist. I try and be a thinker though.
I AGREE!!!! If our officers would start stoppping people for all the wrongs we do, we would all be safer. Tail gaiting is aweful. To stop and let him go by is telling that person its ok to do it. I hope someone reads these posts! When I drive through town the speed limit is 25, most go 35 or more. An accident every day. Do they slow them down? NO!! WTF!!!
Drive defensively with caution and pay attention to the road.
People are going to fast, tailgaiting, texting, and simply not driving the death machine correctly. To LAW ENFOREMENT; Slow us down, save lives. Get out and stop the carnage!
Col. Robert Williams, chief of the Maine State Police, this is the one to speak to..
With statement like what is written here it’s no wonder death rates are up in Maine.. They patrol where there’s the most accidents,, that doesn’t make any sense to me, reactive instead of proactive isn’t the way to go IMHO :-/ Very rarely do we see any people getting a ticket for speeding up on the upper reaches of route 11, people and trucks alike are flying by our place and it’s just a 45 mph zone… Oh well more people will have to die first before anything will get done I guess…
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/10/10/news/augusta/as-speeders-become-more-brazen-police-seek-to-analyze-habits/
Isn’t that the truth avoidthecrowd. I always follow the speed limit, I drive defensively, and people are often tailgating. It is aggravating I slow down and sometimes pull over. People pass me and show me the bird. An exercise in patience.
I have never seen a tailgating charge in court news, EVAH!!
Does anyone ever get summoned for blocking the left lane while driving the interstate? I drive 100 miles a day on 295, have been for 16 years, and every day traffic is backed up for miles due to these knuckleheads.