FRYEBURG, Maine — Eight teens were involved in an early morning crash Friday in Fryeburg.
Now, police say the driver should have never been behind the wheel.
Fryeburg police say a car was taken from a home on Meadow Lane without permission by a 15-year-old girl early Friday morning. They say the unlicensed driver then went around town picking up her friends.
Fryeburg police say the joyride ended on Haley Town Road around 3:30 a.m., when that car crashed into a tree, sending two teenagers to Maine Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. Police say at the time of the crash, there were a total of eight teenagers in the car.
Eric Meltzer is the owner of Fryeburg Motors and a member of the rescue squad. He says young drivers need to be more careful than ever on the road.
“They’re experience level is much lower, distractions in cars are much higher than they’ve ever been,” Meltzer said. “There’s Bluetooth, wireless communication, entertainment, things of that nature.”
He says parents should talk to their kids about safe driving methods.
“A lot of kids don’t realize that driving on a secondary road is the same as driving on a highway or vice-versa, it’s kind of hard to understand how quick their reactions need to be,” Meltzer said.
Police say several criminal charges are likely, and that all kids involved are lucky to be alive. Meltzer says he hopes this serves as a lesson to the community.
“Being a small town, a lot of kids know other kids, so that personal connection a lot of times hits closer to home,” Meltzer said.
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