Reported by the Bangor Daily News on Septemeber 22, 2010
NEW SHARON — An elderly man was killed Tuesday morning as he crossed Route 134 in front of his house, police said.
Glen Fitch, 87, was killed instantly when he was struck by a pickup truck driven by 43-year-old Walter Fails of New Sharon.
What happens if someone else’s negligence behind the wheel causes you injury and they don’t have insurance?sIn Maine, every auto insurance policy is required to have several components. One of those components is uninsured motorist coverage (UM). Every auto insurance policy must have a minimum of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident of UM coverage. (See Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 29-A Section 1605 (1)(C)(2) & (3) and Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 24-A Section 2902). This means, if you have insurance, you automatically have this coverage as part of your policy.
UM coverage is used when someone with no insurance at all causes you injury. In that case, you can use up to the amount of your policy. Therefore, if you have only purchased the state minimum of insurance, the maximum amount available tosyou from an accident will be $50,000. This is true even if the accident was not your fault. With the rising costs of medical expenses, even a moderate injury can easily use up this amount. This must also cover any lost wages, pain and suffering, attorney’s fees, and all other damages you may have. (The only exception is your vehicle damage, which is usually covered separately.)
Note that the limit is further split, depending on how many people are injured in the accident. For example, if a family of three are traveling in the same car and all three are injured, the maximum amount available for the whole accident is capped at $100,000. No one person can recover more than $50,000 and the total amount the insurance company will have to pay will not exceed $100,000. Again, if all three have even moderate injuries, there will likely not be enough money to properly compensate everyone.
Reported by Bangor Daily News on September 14, 2010 and September 15, 2010
DEDHAM, Maine — A family of three from Jonesport was killed and an Orono man was injured Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash on U. . Route 1A.
Killed in the accident were Carlos A. Tapia, 34, his wife, Rachelle R. Tapia, 23, and Rachelle Tapia’s 4-year-old daughter, Mackenzie Gray, who was Carlos Tapia’s stepdaughter.
According to police reports, Wayne Turcotte, 24, who is believed to have been the driver of the 1999 Volkswagen car that crashed on Lyford Road. A passenger in the vehicle, Shane Stone, 24, of Orneville, was taken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. He suffered serious head injuries, Emerson said.
Mr. Stone has a potential claim against Mr. Turcotte’s insurance company and may have an additional claim for any underinsured motorist coverage he or a family member has.
This accident is under investigation.
A South Berwick man was indicted Wednesday by the Penobscot County grand jury in the Jan. 30 hit-and-run death of a University of Maine student in Orono.
Garrett Cheney, 22, was indicted on charges of manslaughter, aggravated criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants, leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in serious bodily injury, and criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants.
He is scheduled to be arraigned at the Penobscot Judicial Center on May 20.
Police are looking for the driver of what is believed to be a pick-up truck or SUV that killed Jordyn Bakley, a 20 year-old University of Maine student, in Orono. It is believed that the vehicle that struck Ms. Bakley is a 2003-2007 Chevrolet and has front-end damage resulting from the collision. Anyone with information about this hit-and-run should contact the Orono Police Department.
A second person has now died from injuries stemming from an accident just east of Aurora on Route 9, Friday. Police say Lorraine Rice of Pembroke died instantly. Her husband, Wayn Rice, was flown by lifeflight to Eastern Maine Medical Center, but later died of his injuries.
The SUV, a 2009 GMC Yukon, was driven by Holly Hubley, 45, of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Hubley and her passenger, Trevor Graney, 35, also of Halifax, were taken by ambulance to a hospital in Bangor with non-life threatening injuries.
State Police say the Rices were in their 2002 Kia when it crossed the center line on a curve, and was struck on the passenger side by the SUV.
Maine police say icy road conditions and speed are the likely factors in a two-car crash east of Aurora that killed a woman and critically injured her husband.
Police are investigating whether 74-year-old Lorraine Rice of Pembroke, the operator of one of the two vehicles involved in the crash, was traveling at a speed unsafe for the slippery conditions.
The driver and a passenger in the other vehicle were injured and taken to a local hospital.
A China man has died after suffering severe injuries when he was struck by a plow truck on Sunday. Arthur Poulin, 82, suffered serious head injuries in the accident. Poulin was the father of retired Maine State Police Colonel Craig Poulin.
The cause of this accident is under investigation. As personal injury specialists, Peter Thompson & Associates has investigated hundreds of accidents. In almost all cases, the primary and secondary causes of collisions are disputed, resulting in the need for a comprehensive accident reconstruction. While police will often conduct an accident reconstruction, we find it frequently necessary to conduct more detailed investigations of accident scenes to determine who was at fault. Because important evidence that will be necessary to provide the most accurate investigation is often lost as time passes, it is critical that a comprehensive accident reconstruction occur as soon as possible and that all witnesses to the accident are interviewed to preserve their recollections.
December 30, 2009: 63-year-old David Warren was killed Wednesday when the PT Cruiser he was driving collided with a van driven by 50-year-old Robert Simocko on River Road in Standish. Simocko was rushed to Maine Medical Center, where he is listed in fair condition.
In this type of serious case, it is critical to conduct an accident reconstruction as soon as possible to preserve necessary evidence. For example, one of the best ways to determine whether speed was a factor in the accident is to examine and measure skid marks. Skid marks become markedly less visible as time passes, particularly if snow falls and the road is plowed. In addition, the damage to the vehicle is an excellent indicator of the speed of the vehicle immediately prior to impact, so it will be important to preserve the vehicle. At Peter Thompson & Associates, we have investigated hundreds of serious collisions and had the very best accident reconstructionists in the field determine how and why an accident occurred.
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