BELFAST, Maine — The driver and sole occupant of a car traveling north on Route 1A in Prospect was killed in a head-on collision with a dump truck Wednesday morning.
Chief Deputy Jeff Trafton of the Waldo County Sheriff’s Department said Owen Krause, 16, of Stockton Springs was killed in the crash. He was a junior at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor. The crash was reported at 7:03 a.m.
The truck driver, Thomas Drew of Winterport, was taken by ambulance to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast for treatment and later released. The truck he was driving was registered to Clisham Construction of Winterport.
Krause was driving a Lincoln four-door sedan, according to Deputy Ben Seekins’ report. Witnesses reported that the Lincoln veered suddenly into the opposite lane where the truck was traveling.
The collision occurred near the intersection of Route 1A and Muskrat Farm Road.
Faculty, staff and the school’s crisis team at John Bapst were informed of the student’s death midday Wednesday. An assembly was held in which students were told of the death. Students were encouraged to use school counseling services.
A local grief counseling team was contacted, and its members will be at the school Thursday, according to an email message sent to parents from Mel MacKay, head of school.
“This loss will be felt for a long time to come,” MacKay wrote. “Our deepest sympathies go out to Owen’s family and to his friends.”
In a news item about the assembly posted on the school’s website, John Bapst Cross Country Coach Joe Capehart is quoted saying, “Owen always looked on the positive, bright side of things. It could be pouring buckets, and he’d say, ‘Oh, the sun is going to come right out.’ He was a great teammate — very good natured, self-effacing, always willing to help out and lend a hand, and he’s going to be sorely missed.”
All afternoon activities at the school were canceled.
Tragic loss of life.
Vehicle operators appearing to drive as if they are under the influence are an epidemic. Yesterday one swerved head on into a school bus; today this one goes directly into an oncoming dump truck.
I’ve no info on this terrible accident (and hope I’m wrong) but on my daily 40 mile commute i observe at least 2 or 3 drivers operating their vehicle all over the road as they probably attend to “more important” things inside their vehicle (cell phone; texting; reading; make-up; food; radio; gps). Accidents waiting to happen.
LET’S BE CAREFUL OUT THERE ! Sgt Phil Esterhouse, Hill Street Blues, 1981
According to the law, the person must be seen texting. All the law did was cause people to keep the cell phones in their laps. Now they stare down and forget they are driving. I saw a Bangor cop sitting beside a car full of teens and they were all looking down including the driver. He couldn’t do anything because there was no cell phone visible.
There is nothing in the law that says the phone must be visible for an officer to make a stop.
The officer can stop any driver for suspected inattentive driving for not keeping their eyes on the road.
I said it MANY TIMES. All they have to do is install updated software in all phones so you cannot text when the phone is moving over 5MPH. All cell phones have a GPS chips in them. You ether get you cell phone updated by the end of the month or they stop working . We need a law to make this happen so ALL cell phone companys have to do it. Problem solved..
So a passenger shouldn’t be able to text???
One problem solved, another created. This scenario prevents the passenger from using their phone; it also prevents the driver from making a 911 call should they observe an illegal act (it’s not always possible to pull over and stop one’s vehicle). Additionally, it limits my rights because others don’t have sense enough to monitor themselves. The answer is not always to pass another law to make us safer. Since it appears it is more often teens who are texting while driving, perhaps parents should think about not paying for texting privileges. Responsibility starts with the individual and family, not the authorities.
The software update would stop the texting portion of the cell phone. You could still be able to make a call though bluetooth. Do we really need to Text anyway? Does a passenger really need to be texting? I know parents that say there kids cell phone bills have thousands of text per month. REALLY? That will be a usefull skill later on in life.. I am 54 and never sent a text in my life. If I need to say something to someone I will call them.. There is a law that is suppose to prevent texting while driving already, Hows it working?
The weather in our area was very windy and rainy at 7 this morning. There is a possibility that he could have hydroplaned.
Thank you for making that statement. Let’s not assume that Owen was doing anything wrong. It could have simply been an accident.
Deepest sympathies to the family, friends, faculty and EMS crews. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
The car did swerve into the lane of the oncoming dump truck, and the truck driver had no way to avoid running over the car. Tragic for all.
RIP Owen…prayers going up for you, your family, John Bapst classmates and friends!
Very sad to hear of this tragic loss of a young life. It’s so dangerous this time of the year to drive in a terrible downpour with wet leaves all over the road. Makes for slick roads. My heart goes out to the family of the victim and to the driver of the dump truck who will have to carry this memory with him forever.
Very sad to read about another accident on a Maine road.
But why, oh why, are we using information from the Associated Press on an accident that occurred in Maine? BDN your editorial and fact checking standards seem to spiral further downward by the day.
AP has a Portland bureau and stringers scattered around the state. The AP provides stories to the BDN., probably all TV and Radio stations, too. The BDN is a member of the AP and is required to reciprocate by sharing their reports with the wire service.
Iworkingmommy is complaining that it reflects badly on the Bangor Daily for not initially doing the reporting itself for something that happened in its backyard. She’s right. The Bangor Daily wasn’t obligated to run the Associated Press story.
It would have been much easier just to have scratched the AP credit line off. Both of you would have been none the wiser. The fact that the story broke in the BDN’s backyard doesn’t mean it has to be rejected because a staffer didn’t cover. That’s what being a member of the AP means – share.
The point is, a staff writer should have covered it from the beginning.
The BDN believes in full utilization of correspondents. Maybe a staff reporter was unavailable. What does it matter as long as you get the story and from a reputable source?
Very sorry to hear about this. Death is always a tragedy and that he was so young is especially sad.
My sympathies to his friends, family and classmates.
So very sad and tragic. Too young to die. My heart breaks for his friends and family.
I am so sorry! Prayers going up for Owen’s family and friends.
As the mom of teens, I feel sick. I know between their cell phones and i-pods that they like to hook up to the car stereo, there is way too much to distract them in this overly tech-saturated day in age-especially while driving!
Parents, remind your teen drivers that changing the song isn’t as important as being safe on the road. And leave that phone on silent so they aren’t tempted to be distracted by it while driving.
Of course, no one knows the cause of this accident yet, but the veering into oncoming lane suggests a distraction could have been the problem.
God, please be with the Krause family <3
No matter what happened, such a tragic loss. My sincere sympathy to his Mom, Dad, and family. I watched my Mother go through the loss of 2 children, one at 15 and one at 22. There are no good answers.
what is with drivers not staying in their lane everyday someone is over the yellow line coming at me also the jerk that backs out of the driveway across a double yellow line? on route 7. in driver ed they said that is illegal i quess some think they own the road
One word- texting. As so many have already pointed out, we don’t know if this tragedy was the result of texting but I firmly believe that, overall, many accidents are.
This is a tragedy. This was a kid on his way to school. I don’t know what happened or why, only that it was something bad. Let’s not judge the young victim for what we know others do, we don’t know, especially from this article, what HE was doing. That is really all that counts here.
My condolences to his family, and to his friends and classmates, and of course, to the operator of the other vehicle, who apparently could not avoid this collision. My prayers are with all of you.
Having said that, parents, remind your young drivers that they need their eyes on the road, 100% of the time, Kids, in a car, please put your safety belts on every time you ride. They have been proven to save lives. Most importantly, parents and kids, never leave the house without reminding each other that you love each other. One never knows when the last chance to say this will be. Don’t waste the opportunity.
I know that when it is a younger person involved in an accident and was the actual cause people tend to think that it was because of a mobile device or car stereo but we do not know what happened. This boy could of still been sleeping cramming for a test or something and dozed off just enough to cross the line. Maybe he dropped his coffee on him and panicked and swerved we do not know yet. Either way a kid died and that is what should be focused on. I feel so bad for the driver of the dump truck and I wish him the best! Also to Owen’s family I am so sorry for your loss may Owen RIP <3
My thoughts and prayers are with this young mans family and the young people at John Bapts, it is very difficult to lose someone so young and with so much promise. May God bless you in your time of need.