MOUNT DESERT, Maine — An Ellsworth woman got a scare Tuesday morning while driving through the village of Somesville when an accident resulted in a utility pole piercing her car’s passenger side door.
The pole became a projectile around 10 a.m. Tuesday, when a boat hull being towed on a trailer toward Southwest Harbor snagged on a power line that crosses over Route 102 between Oak Hill and Pretty Marsh roads, according to Mount Desert Police Officer Leigh Guildford. The force of the unfinished boat hull catching on the overhead wire pulled the pole entirely out of the ground.
Marlene Bennett, 60, was driving a 2007 Dodge sedan behind the truck and trailer when the pole flew from its upright position into the roadway, Guildford said. The force of it being pulled out propelled the pole through the front passenger-side door of Bennett’s car.
“It impaled it,” Guildford said of the pole.
Bennett was alone in the vehicle and no one was in the passenger seat, he said.
Bennett “wasn’t hurt, but she was shook up pretty good,” the officer added.
The car had an estimated $5,000 damage from the freak accident.
Guildford said the driver of the truck hauling the boat hull, Corey Pettegrow, 50, of Southwest Harbor, had a permit for his cargo and will not be cited for the accident.
Route 102 where the accident occurred was closed for about half an hour as rescue crews responded to the scene and removed obstacles from the roadway, according to Guildford. He said traffic was rerouted onto Oak Hill and Whitney Farm roads while Route 102 was shut down.
Guildford, a longtime police officer in Hancock County, said that prior to Tuesday’s accident, he had never seen a utility pole become impaled in the metal side of a vehicle.
“This is my first,” he said. “It is a little unusual.”
Follow BDN reporter Bill Trotter on Twitter at @billtrotter.
Ouch, hope she does her own laundry.
HAHA!
Woman driver I see..
Just curious,why does that have any bearing on the story?the driver of the truck with the logs was a man,no?
The article just stated that the driver of the car was a woman…Nothing more, nothing less..
After reading down through the remaining comments I laughed harder than I did when I first read yours … and I was laughing pretty hard at that. I am sorry that wit is lost on so many now.
I dont think that gender has anything to do with this story. She didn’t run into the truck and get a pole impaled in her car the truck hit it and it impaled the car! Now that’s said she may of been traveling a little to close to the truck that we dont know. Could you imagine being the passenger in that car? I dont think that there was one but scary thought!
I agree…
nonsense
I know…LOL
I do not care, I tell you, there has to be a cell phone involved in this somewhere.
You do know that in Somesville it is very hard to get a cell signal, correct? Somesville is a notorious dead zone.
The cell phone comment was meant to be a joke, Gawd some of you are so dry.
Well you have to add in the joke part these days because so many people are serious when they make that comment.
Agree alot assume that there was a phone involved to most every car accident lately which I am sure that some are but not all! :)
That makes them try even harder.
The boat got snagged on a guywire, pulled it out of the ground and shot it thru the woman’s door. Cellphone use and/or gender had nothing to do with it.
Thank you so much, for the interpertation, I never did learn to read. Thanks
“… Cellphone use ….. had nothing to do with it…”
It would, if either driver was using a cell, and therefore distracted.
CANNOT use cell and drive (safely) at same time. Proven, time and again.
You are correct. However, Somesville is one of many dead zones for cell phones on MDI, so that would not be a factor in this specific case.
maybe she was MORE distracted because she was trying and trying and trying to get the phone call to go through, but it wouldn’t because of lack of signal?
Tell law enforcement that see if they arrest themselves. :)
just cause the cops do it dont make it alright. people still need to save their calls for when they’re not driving. its just stupid.
Where in that 9 word sentence did I say that it was ok? I’m just sayin!
Heck of a way to get yer kindling wood for the winter! Glad nobody hurt and am sure that Bangor Hydro will be sending her a bill for the pole soon.
One, must remember this was SOMESVILLE, seems to be a total lack of sense of humor in SOMESVILLE, have to keep that in mind. I am sursprised, or am waiting for someone to ask why she would do her own laundry.
It’s not that those of us who live in Somesville lack a sense of humor, it’s that you just aren’t as funny as you think you are. The laundry joke, WAS funny. Of course, it wasn’t made by you, so that explains it!
I might have know, yup, that explains it, yup, all right all right zonesville has a sense of humor.
That, Somesville has a total dead zone was a understatement.
I hate it when they call things like this a “Freak Accident”. This could have been avoided with more attention from the person hauling the boat hull. When making a haul it’s up to the driver to know what his load height is and to approach low hanging wires, bridges, and other structures with caution. Accidents such as this one are completely preventable. It’s a really good thing that noone was injured.