Wrongful Death

November 17, 2009

Steuben man crushed to death under dump truck

November 14, 2009: Forest Dale, Sr., 46, of Steuben was killed Saturday morning when he was crushed between the cab and the dump body of his delivery truck.

Dale was delivering a load of firewood to a home in Cherryfield about 11 a.m. when the accident occurred, according to Sgt. Timothy Tabbutt of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department.

In the process of attempting to raise the dump body on his 1-ton flatbed, Dale’s truck broke through an abandoned underground tank, Tabbutt said. The truck fell through all the way to its frame.

November 8, 2009

Mother and daughter fatally injured in Auburn crash

by Peter Thompson & Associates

November 7, 2009: Authorities are conducting an investigation in the cause of a crash that killed a mother and daughter in Auburn on Saturday. Police reported that a truck hauling an trailer was traveling eastbound on Minot Avenue when it crossed the center line and stuck a 2003 Oldsmobile that was traveling westbound. The operator of the Oldsmobile, a 36-year-old woman from Auburn was killed instantly. Her 4-year-old daughter later died at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewsiton. The operator of the truck, a 43-year-old man from Norway and a passenger from each vehicle were in critical condition at CMMC Saturday night.

Police did not immediately release any names. The cause of the crash was still under investigation late Saturday.

At Peter Thompson & Associates, our attorneys and crash scene investigators have investigated many similar accidents. Frequently driver inattention or distraction is the cause. For example, an accident we investigated recently turned out to be due to a driver talking on a cellphone. Although the driver initially claimed that he wasn’t talking on the phone immediately before the accident, we were able to obtain copies of his cellphone records which revealed he lied about that important information. The case was successfully resolved.

October 10, 2009

Wade Foster, 35, arrested in connection with fatal collision with motorcyclist

by Peter Thompson & Associates

October 5, 2009:sA 25-year-old Lisbon motorcyclist has died as a result of a collision with a motor vehicle on Route 125 in Bowdoin. Wade Foster, 35, of Lewiston, reportedly turned his 1995 Chrysler Concord left in front of a motorcycle driven by Richard Paraskevakos, 25, of Lisbon, at approximately 6:45 p.m., according to a release from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department. Paraskevakos was flown to Central Maine Medical Center by helicopter, but was later pronounced dead.

According to the Bureau of Motor Vehicle records, Foster is a habitual offender with a previous OUI conviction in 1999. Monday’s crash is being reconstructed by the Brunswick Police Department and investigated by the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department.

September 22, 2009

Update: Three vehicle crash in Littleton

by Peter Thompson & Associates

A spokeswoman for Eastern Maine Medical Center said James Westerdahl, 75, of Littleton died Friday afternoon.

He was southbound in his 1999 GMC truck about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday when reportedly a tire blew out on the extended cab vehicle.

Westerdahl lost control and swerved into the northbound lane, directly into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer truck driven by James Sprague, 57, of Nobleboro.

September 22, 2009

September 20, 2009: Portland crash kills 18 year old passenger

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The crash happened in Portland around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Police say a Ford Mustang driven by 21-year-old Yannick Mulongo of Portland crossed the center line on a street, hitting a Chevy Impala and several utility poles.

Police say the 18-year-old killed was a passenger in the car driven by Mulongo. His name is not being released until next of kin can be notified.

The Impala was driven by 31-year-old Fartun Aden of Portland.

September 19, 2009

Fatal crash in Stockton Springs

by Peter Thompson & Associates

A fatal crash occurred on Route 1 around 11:00 pm on Thursday. Authorities say a pickup truck, driven by 32 year old Chadwick Sage crossed the center line. The pickup crashed head on with a commercial truck driven by Richard Turner of Thomaston.

Deputies say the delivery truck traveled about 150-200 feet before rolling over and bursting into flames. Turner was able to get out of the truck and was taken to Waldo County General Hospital for what authorities say were non-life threatening injuries. Sage was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police authorities are investigating this accident.

August 21, 2009

Michael Lewis, 16, killed in crash in Tremont, Maine

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Michael Lewis of Bass Harbor was killed in the crash that occurred near the Rumill Road intersection. Lewis was driving a pickup truck that crashed head-on with another pick-up truck. The other truck was operated by Dacota Dow, 19, of Bar Harbor. Authorities reported that the two vehicles collided in the center of the road.

Two passengers in Lewis’ vehicle, Erin Hanley, a teenager from Tremont, and her brother Patrick, 10, were taken by ambulance to MDI Hospital in Bar Harbor with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Troopers from the Maine State Police remained on the scene into the evening investigating the accident.

August 10, 2009

Driver Accused in Fatal Accident Had Seven License Suspensions in Fewer Than Three Years

by Peter Thompson & Associates

A driver accused of fatally hitting a pedestrian had an extensive list of past traffic infractions, the Lewiston Sun-Journal reported Aug. 7. Brandon Earl Pelletier, 19, of Turner, is accused of hitting Sharon B. Call, 65, of Turner as she walked to a relative’s mailbox. According to an accident report by the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department, Call was walking to the mailbox at 9:45 a.m. when Pelletier approached at an unsafe rate of speed. He is accused of hitting Call, then skidding down an embankment and into a field.

Research by the Sun-Journal shows that Pelletier has been in trouble for traffic offenses many times in his short driving career. Since he received his license in December of 2006, it has been suspended seven times — it was restored most recently in April. His record also includes three convictions for speeding; two for running a stop sign; and one for illegal transport of liquor. He has also been convicted twice for operating with a suspended license and once for failing to produce evidence of insurance, along with more minor offenses. No charges are currently pending in connection with the current accident, but the accident report said unsafe speed was a primary contributor to the accident, along with tire failure as a secondary contributor.

Of course, a spotted past doesn’t guarantee that a driver will be involved in a serious accident later. But as a Bangor, Maine car crash lawyer, I know that such drivers are statistically correlated with fatal accidents. According to statistics from the federal Department of Transportation, 40% of those involved in fatal accidents with speeding in 2007 were also legally drunk (with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher). In the same year, about 40% of drivers involved in fatal crashes had previous license suspensions, crashes or convictions for OUI/DUI, speeding or another serious moving violation. When a driver has multiple previous offenses, it’s not hard to guess that he or she might be an unsafe driver. These offenses could be powerful evidence for the driver’s liability in any Maine car wreck lawsuit that victims and their loved ones choose to file.

August 5, 2009

Update on accident that killed camp counselor walking on roadside

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The Kennebec Couty Sheriff’s Department reported that the results of the blood test conducted on Joseph Rouleau, 35, of Fayette, following the crash that claimed the life of 21-year-old Corrie Lazar showed Rouleau had a blood-alcohol content of 0.23, almost three times the legal limit. Charges will likely be filed against Mr. Rouleau.

In this type of situation, it is highly likely that it will be established that Mr. Rouleau’s level of intoxication prevented him from seeing Lazar in the road or, if he did see her, impaired his reaction time to the point where he was not able to avoid an otherwise avoidable collision with the pedestrian.