HERMON, Maine — Two vehicles collided at the intersection of Cold Brook Road and the off ramp of the I-95 southbound lane Friday.
Deputy Larry Estes of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office said the driver of the Chevrolet Prizm, Richard Crouch, 82, pulled from the off ramp into the way of a Dodge Charger driven by Lillian Brecht, 32.
The Chevrolet had two occupants and the Dodge had four, which included three children.
All occupants of both vehicles were wearing seat belts and walked away with minor bruises, Estes said.
Time for Mr. Crouch to stop driving.
Really? Do you think Mr. Crouch was on a cell phone, speeding, and distracted by a bunch of kids in the car? Why don’t we wait for a professional accident investigation before jumping to unfounded conclusions.
Agreed. These assumptive statements are ridiculous. Mainers are bad enough drivers but they seem to be becoming more ignorant and selfish on the road. “ME first!!”.
His statement wasn’t an assumption, it was an opinion on the situation.
No assumptions needed here, just watch the video and they will tell you he failed to yield and pulled out into traffic.
Speaking of “assumptive statements” have you had a good look at the one you just posted?
Way to read into a simple comment. If you watch the video the SO states he failed to yieldd. If you have ever taken that off ramp you will know that one can clearly see oncoming traffic without a problem. His age is most likely the reason for the crash.
Kevin what do you think, He outlived his usefullness..
The other car didn’t see him comming and the driver wasn’t aware of their surroundings either. If someone throws a ball at me, I’m going to weave and duck and get out of the way in order not to be hit.
Or he was simply not paying attention.
Last spring (2011) I was leaving Machias with my wife and 2 children in the car when I had to stop and wait behind 2 vehicles turning left. Apparently the young woman behind me (by her own admission) was too busy looking across the road from where the 2 cars were turning to see how busy a night she would have at work…and slammed into the back of my car at 40 miles per hour. Thankfully a large speaker box and a 1000ft spool of Cat 5e cable absorbed much of the impact and nobody was injured.
You don’t need a cell phone, excess speed, or children in the car to be inattentive.
No but Mr Crouch did pull out into the path of an oncoming vehicle…..you don’t have to be on a cell phone to do that….
I believe that due to the elderly gentlemans age, that his reaction time is slower than it used to be. Its obvious by the fact that he was coming from an off ramp, that he failed to yield correctly. But then again, yield signs are pretty useless. I cannot count how many times I have been pushed into another lane or forced to take evasive maneuvers when people have refused to acknowledge the yield sign. Instead of slowing down to yield, most drivers I have encountered tend to interpret the yield sign as the equivalent of the checkered flag at the Indianapolis 500 speedway.
edited.
Oh over 70….I bet no tickets were given, even though he caused the accident by not yielding properly….
Have a question, if the speed limit on a on (and off) ramp is between 25-35 mph, how is it after I passed the point of where a car has entered the on ramp (or behind me) are they cutting me off if they are yielding properly?
Really if the state wants to make money from tickets for improperly yielding they just need a cop at every on ramp, in an hour they could make enough money to supply welfare and the income for politicans and all the states bills.
Defensive driving is just as important as offensive driving.
If a car is not going to yield to me, then I have to take precautions to avoid an accident.. Just because I have the right of way doesn’t means I have a force field around me.. good luck out there if you think just being right is going to protect you.