NORTHPORT, Maine — Three people were injured in a head-on collision on U.S. Route 1 involving two vehicles Tuesday afternoon, Waldo County Sheriff Jeffrey Trafton said in a news release.
The names of those injured — both drivers and one passenger — were not immediately released, but Trafton said the injuries were not considered life-threatening. The other passenger in the southbound vehicle escaped injuries.
Trafton said the crash happened at about 3:45 p.m., and Waldo County sheriff’s deputies as well as personnel from Belfast Fire & Ambulance and the Northport Fire Department were sent to the scene.
Based on initial information gathered at the scene, it appears the southbound vehicle, carrying a driver and two passengers, crossed the centerline for an undetermined reason and struck the northbound vehicle containing only the driver.
The cause of the accident remained under investigation Tuesday night, and additional information will be provided as soon as it becomes available, Trafton said. The investigation is being conducted by Deputy Merl Reed, and the accident is being reconstructed by Deputy Benjamin Seekins, the sheriff said.
Because of the accident, traffic was detoured on the coastal thoroughfare, and motorists were advised to seek alternative routes, a dispatcher at Waldo County Communications Center said. Route 1 reopened to traffic at about 6 p.m.
A clerk at Wentworth’s Family Grocery in Northport said at 4:30 p.m. that a customer said the accident happened around the turnoff to Crow’s Nest Drive, located about 2 miles south of the store.
Bangor Daily News writer Abigail Curtis contributed to this report.