A tractor trailer crash that slowed traffic on Interstate 95 Thursday afternoon was caused by a wrong-way driver, according to police.
Emergency dispatchers started receiving calls shortly after noon about a white 2019 Chevy Silverado traveling north in the southbound lanes of I-95 near mile marker 127, Maine State Police said in a news release. While troopers were responding, they got a report of a tractor-trailer crash to the north, at mile marker 131 in Waterville.
The tractor trailer, which had been traveling south, crashed in the median closing the passing lane.
After an initial investigation, police believe the tractor trailer driver saw the white pickup truck headed towards him and crashed while trying to avoid the oncoming vehicle
The wrong-way driver continued north to mile marker 134, where he turned around and started traveling south in the southbound lanes, police said.
He then exited the interstate at mile marker 133, where a Clinton police officer saw the truck and pulled it over without incident on Route 201 near the Purple Cow restaurant.
Police charged the driver, Randolph Gerry, 71, of Winslow, with driving to endanger and operating the wrong way on a divided highway. He was issued a summons. The Clinton officer said Gerry did not seem to be impaired. No medical conditions were known at the time. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.
The tractor trailer, registered to River View Transport in Houlton, was hauling potatoes. Police said the passing lane will remain closed until crews can unload the potatoes and right the truck.
The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured, according to police.
Maine has had a rash of wrong-way driving incidents in recent months and logged more wrong-way fatal crashes in 2023 than in the previous four years combined.
