FALMOUTH, Maine — A Maine State Police trooper and a Michigan couple escaped injury Tuesday morning when their vehicles collided on the Falmouth Spur, police said.
Trooper Fern Cloutier was headed eastbound on the spur when he hit a patch of black ice near the Falmouth Road overpass, according to state police Sgt. Jim Urquhart.
Cloutier had exited the Maine Turnpike and was headed toward Interstate 295.
The ice caused Cloutier’s vehicle to rear-end a Dodge minivan operated by Nels Nyblad, 59, of Michigan, Urquhart said. Nyblad’s wife, Luanne, 50, was a passenger in the vehicle.
Cloutier’s 2009 Crown Victoria cruiser struck a guardrail after hitting the van, Urquhart said. The van wound up going through a mile marker sign before coming to rest off the side of the highway. Both vehicles were total losses.
Falmouth Rescue responded to the scene but neither Cloutier nor the Nyblads required a trip to the hospital, according to Urquhart.
Urquhart said Cloutier will return to duty on his next shift.
Black ice claims a troopers cruiser.
Troopers are trained to drive safely in all conditions.
But not much can help with black ice.
I hope all goes well for the effected parties.
I hit black ice about 20 years ago as I went into a turn. Thankfully I just ended up jumping a curb and knocking down a very small tree but it happened so fast I had zero time to react. One moment I was on the road, the next I was not.