ORONO, Maine — An Orono man was seriously injured Wednesday afternoon when he was struck by a car on U.S. Route 2, according to police.
Joseph Keleher, 64, was attempting to cross the road from the Orono House of Pizza to the Thriftway supermarket around 4:30 p.m. when a westbound vehicle driven by Lamar Richards, 20, of Bangor hit him, Orono police Capt. Josh Ewing said.
Ewing said Richards was not traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the crash, and Keleher was wearing dark clothing.
Keleher also was not in a crosswalk, according to Ewing.
Richards and other bystanders tended to Keleher before police arrived at the scene, Ewing said. He was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center with serious head injuries. A hospital spokeswoman said Thursday afternoon Keleher is in critical condition.
Richards’ windshield sustained significant damage.
My wife came upon this shortly after it happened and said it didn’t look good. Literally knocked him out of his shoes. Felt really bad for the driver because his clothes were so dark and it is not a well lit area. Hoping for a speedy recovery!
Yeah it really isn’t that well lit of an area. I do like what they have done on College Ave outside the University by putting LED’s in the ground to mark crosswalks.
Doesnt matter since the guy wasnt in a cross walk
Grew up in Orono, NOTORIOUS for people walking around at night in dark clothing. Feel bad for both of them, but man…
What is it with pedestrians vs. cars lately? Almost every day we’re hearing of another incident!
Nights are much longer now. Six months ago, it was light out until almost 9pm.
Is this really such a hard concept to grasp people? Stop wearing dark clothing when walking on the streets at night! Even if you are just crossing the street, if its an unlit area and you are wearing dark clothing, just wait for traffic to clear before you cross because most likely nobody can see you.
lets wear dark clothes at night,,, unreal.. i spose cars will be listed as an assault weapon now..
“Keleher was wearing dark clothing. “… Why should I be surprised? It seems, no matter the age, people seem to just WANT to wear dark clothing, at night….It’s sad to read of the mishaps, but, they are brought on by wearing dark clothing!
If people would just wear light clothing, or reflective markings, it might NOT push MDOT putting in “Crosswalks” every three feet on the roadways.
that is a bad area to cross
How did the driver not see someone crossing the road at 4:30 PM? There is no excuse for this, it is an unsignalized intersection at which the pedestrian always has the right of way. “Not a high rate of speed” could mean anything. This could be manslaughter if the guy dies, either way it’s a serious crime against a bad driver
It’s dark at 4:30 and with him wearing dark clothes and not in a crosswalk it’s easy to see how the driver hit him.
Some people just don’t get it…lol