Articles Tagged with car accidents

A 16-year-old girl has died after a collision with a dump truck on her way to her first day back to school in Pittston. According to the Bangor Daily News, the crash happened at the intersection of Route 27 and Old Cedar Grove Road. Her younger brother, who was in the front passenger seat, suffered serious injuries but is expected to make a full recovery. 

More than 1,000 people attended a candlelight vigil in the teen’s honor, where she was remembered for being smart, athletic, and positive.

Investigators report the teen driver, operating a Jeep, pulled out in front of the truck. The truck then slammed into the driver’s side of the Jeep, causing the Jeep to overturn and come to a rest on the roof. Both teens had to be pried out of the vehicle by rescue workers. The truck driver, meanwhile, suffered only minor injuries.

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics reveals that 43 percent of children killed in car accidents were not wearing a seat belt or buckled in properly to a car seat. Among children involved in a fatal crash in which someone died (not necessarily them), 20 percent were not properly buckled. 

Rates of child fatality varied significantly from state to state, which underscores the argument that public information and state regulations can potentially have a direct impact on motor vehicle safety for children. For example, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported that seat belt usage tends to be higher for all kids in states that have tighter seat belt laws and enforcement.

In Maine, Maine Rev. Stat. Ch. 19, 1-2801 requires that children under 40 pounds be properly secured in a child safety seat in accordance with the manufacturer’s instruction. The fine is $50 for a first-time offense and cannot be suspended by the court. Passengers under the age of 18 have to be wearing seat belts, and here again, the fine is $50 for a first-time offense.

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Lawmakers in Maine are weighing whether to amend the state’s wrongful death statutes to allow claims for the deaths of unborn children. The proposal would specifically exempt physicians who conduct legal abortions, although some pro-choice advocates say the law would nonetheless undercut women’s reproductive rights. 

Supporters of the measure opine it’s an avenue for family members to seek financial redress when a fetus dies as a result of neglect, default, or some wrongful act – by a driver, a doctor, a manufacturer, or another party. Those opposed to the measure say it isn’t necessary under state law, and the true purpose is to chip away at a woman’s right to choose.

The bill, L.D. 327, would give families the opportunity to seek damages in probate court under wrongful death statutes if a fetus that is viable (i.e., has reached at least 24 weeks of age) dies as a result of someone else’s negligence. This would not be a unique move. In fact, 40 other states – including all of the other states in New England – provide some avenue for family members to seek financial compensation if an unborn baby dies because of another party’s wrongdoing or neglect.

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Two people were killed – one a child – and three seriously injured in a Maine car accident believed to have been weather-related. 

The Portland Press-Herald reported the Monday morning crash instantly killed a 45-year-old man and critically injured his fifth-grade daughter, who died two days later. The accident also seriously injured two other children and the girl’s mother. All three children involved in the crash attended Narragansett School in the Gorham School Department, just west of Portland. The newspaper reported the father was a passenger in a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by his wife when she lost control of the vehicle on a road slicked with snow and ice. The Jeep skidded sideways and was then broadsided by a dump truck, which then pushed the Jeep into a telephone pole. The three girls were seated in the back seat of the vehicle, one in a child car seat. There was so much damage to the Jeep that firefighters had no choice but to cut the doors off to pry the victims out. Of the two girls who survived, one suffered a broken hip and the other several broken bones. The driver and mother sustained severe internal injuries, hospital administrators reported. The driver of the dump truck was not injured.

Maine of course is no stranger to snow and ice, but no matter how many times drivers brave it on the roads, it’s still just as lethal. Investigators are still combing through the circumstances, but the Gorham police chief told the Press-Herald that it was safe to say speed was likely a factor in the collision. However, he added that if this had been a dry roadway at the time of the incident, “this accident would not have happened.”

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A new report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism suggests adults in Maine are drinking far more than in years past.

Per capita consumption of alcohol among those over the age of 21 has risen since the late 1990s. In fact, according to an analysis of the data by The Bangor Daily News, consumption of alcohol has increased to levels not since since the 1970s.

Maine-based purchases of alcohol show a steady increase of alcohol consumption in the form of beer and spirits. However, wine consumption has remained relatively flat in recent years. From 2012 to 2013, there was a 1.7 percent increase in per capita consumption of alcohol. This was on par with the national increase of 1.5 percent. The data also shows Mainers prefer beer to anything else. Continue reading

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