MILLINOCKET, Maine — A 59-year-old man died and traffic was stopped on Route 157 for about four hours after a two-vehicle crash near Huber and Rice Farm roads on Tuesday. Three others suffered minor injuries, police said.
The collision occurred when a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder traveling west toward Millinocket rear-ended a 2007 Dodge Caliber that stopped on Route 157. The crash was reported about 4:15 p.m., said Millinocket police Officer David Cram, who is handling the investigation.
The man, whose name is being withheld pending notification of his family, was pronounced dead at the scene. Cram declined to say which vehicle the man was in. The three others were taken to Millinocket Regional Hospital, he said.
Cram said he suspects the Pathfinder’s driver may have been blinded by the sun’s glare, which typically is very bright along that stretch of Route 157 during that time of day.
“I think the sun was a factor in the accident,” Cram said Tuesday. “I still have a few witnesses to interview.”
Cram said he sees no indication yet whether speed or slippery road conditions were contributing factors in the crash.
Traffic along Route 157, the only main road into Millinocket from the east, was stopped until about 8:30 p.m. as state police and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office deputies reconstructed the accident and mapped it forensically, Cram said.