Maine Injury Lawyer BlogUntil recently, auto and other liability insurance companies in Maine were not required to disclose the amount of insurance carried by their insureds, even when they were clearly at fault for an accident. This gave the insurance companies an advantage in settlement negotiations and in determining how long a case took to settle. Fortunately, the Maine legislature corrected this obvious inequity and granted injured persons the right to the insurance coverage information. (M.R. .A 24A -§2164-E.) If the insurance companies do not disclose the information within 60 days of a written request, you are entitled to a $500 fine from them. Many insurance companies are not yet aware of the change in the law and the team at Peter Thompson & Associates has successfully collected several $500 fines for our clients. If you have questions about your rights when dealing with insurance companies, contact us at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website, www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com, on our car accident practice page.
Police Identify Driver in Enfield Accident
Reported by WABI-TV5 News Desk
June 23rd 2010
Police have determined who was driving the vehicle that was involved in a fatal accident in Enfield last week. The Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department says a car driven by 38-year old Leanna Lancaster went off Route 2 last Tuesday night. Lancaster’s passengers, 24-year old Kourtney Grindle Murray and 18-year old Christina Pegg, both of Greenbush, were pronounced dead at the scene. A police officer driving by discovered the crash just before 9:30. Sgt. Scott Young says it appears the car was heading south when it strayed into the northbound lane and crashed into a tree. Lancaster, also of Greenbush, was airlifted to Eastern Maine Medical Center. Police are still investigatiing the cause of the accident.
Three injured in Warren crash
Reported by Bangor Daily News Staff
WARREN, Maine — Three people were injured, one critically, after a two-car accident Tuesday, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
At about 4:30 p.m. Howard Taggart, 58, was driving his 2000 Chevy Blazer north on Route 1 in Warren near Loons Cry Campground, when he drifted into oncoming traffic. A black 2000 Mazda MPV operated by Jess Brann, 34, was hit head on. Passengers in the Blazer were sisters Allyson Taggert, 34, and Holly Anderson, 31, according to the Sheriff’s Office. No hometowns were given for any of the victims.
Route 1 crash in Kittery sends two to hospital
Reported by Deborah Mcdermott, seacoastonline.com
June 23, 2010 2:00 AM
KITTERY, Maine — Two people were sent to the hospital following an accident Tuesday morning at Route 1 and Lewis Road that caused a vehicle to catch fire and closed Route 1 to traffic until after 10 a.m.
Charges expected in two-car Rt. 236 collision
Reported by Deborah McDermott, Seacoastonline.com
June 23, 2010 2:00 AM
ELIOT, Maine — A two-car accident at the intersection of Route 236 and Beech Street sent two people to the hospital Tuesday morning and caused traffic to be diverted around the scene for at least an hour.
Belfast students injured in crash
Three Belfast Area High School students were injured and taken to the hospital Friday night after their car struck a tree.
The crash occurred at around 8:15 p.m. on Back Searsport Road when the 2002 Daewoo in which the three male students were riding left the road for unknown reasons and hit the tree, Sgt. Walter Corey with the Belfast Police Department said Saturday.
The names of the three victims were not released because they are all under age 18.
Crash in Trenton, Maine results in death of Tam Ngoc Tran and Cynthia Perez
A two-car crash early Saturday morning in Maine took the life of one Brown graduate student, Tam Ngoc Tran GS, and injured another, President Ruth Simmons announced in a campus-wide e-mail Sunday morning. Tran, 27, one of two passengers in a car driven by Heather Lee GS, was airlifted from the scene to Eastern Maine Medical Center, where she died at 5:55 p.m. Saturday, according to Maine State Police Sergeant Timothy Varney. The other passenger, Cinthya Nathalie Felix Perez, 26, died at the scene.
At 1:20 a.m. Saturday, a Ford pick-up truck driven by Jon Dow, 23, of Hampden, Maine, crossed the center line of Maine’s Route 3 and struck the vehicle driven by Lee, 28, according to Varney. Dow and Lee also sustained injuries.
The crash remains under investigation and is being reconstructed by the local sheriff’s department.
Paris crash results in serious injuries to 3
Three people are recovering from serious injuries after a head-on crash Monday morning in Paris. Police say a car heading north on Route 119 crossed the center line and collided with a pickup truck heading south. Driver Justin Rolfe, 26, of Paris and his passenger, Donavan Stevens, 26, of Hebron were listed in stable condition Monday night after Rolfe’s car crossed the center line on Route 119 in Paris on Monday morning and hit a truck, police Lt. Michael Dailey said. Terence Bean, 51, of Paris, was the driver of the truck.
A police investigation is underway. 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.
Update: Route 11 crash victim identified
Police on Tuesday identified the Rochester motorcyclist dealt life threatening injuries in Saturday’s accident on Route 11 as Robert Lingard, 46, who remains in serious condition at Maine Medical Center.
Sgt. Jay Drury also identified the 18-year-old New Durham man driving the pickup truck that collided with Lingard’s motorcycle as John Chamberlin.
The accident remains under investigation.
Manchester motorcycle accident results in serious injuries
A 46-year-old Rochester resident riding a motorcycle on Route 11 was airlifted to Maine Medical Center in Portland with life threatening injuries Saturday after colliding with a pickup truck.
Police Cpl. Mike McNeil said authorities are not releasing the names of those involved, pending notification of next of kin.
He confirmed the age and hometown of the motorcyclist and said the driver of the other vehicle, a white GMC Sierra pickup, is an 18-year-old from New Durham.