September 13th, 2010 | 
Author: MEDWAY, ME – A man was killed Monday morning, August 30, when the semi trailer truck he was driving rolled over and crashed on a highway in Penobscot County, Maine. The truck accident occurred on Interstate 95 near the town of Medway, ME. The accident area is in the central section of the state, about 62 miles north of Bangor, ME and about 175 miles south of Saint-Basile, New Brunswick, Canada.
The tractor truck flipped over onto its left side, dumping tons of wood chips onto the interstate.
Shortly after 11:00 a.m. Monday morning 50 year old Donald Pepin of Mattawamkeag, ME was driving a semi trailer truck south on Interstate 95 in Penobscot County, ME. The tractor trailer was carrying several thousand pounds of wood chips that may have come from a chip mill in Chester, ME. The semi truck is owned by W.T. Gardner & Sons, a trucking company based in Lincoln, ME that works mainly with the logging, forestry, and land management industries.
As Mr. Pepin drove through the area near the town of Medway, he began to lose control of the tractor truck as he passed another vehicle near mile marker 241. According to truck accident investigators, the semi truck was in the left southbound lane of the interstate moving around the other vehicle when it began to tip and fishtail.
The tractor truck flipped over onto its left side, dumping tons of wood chips onto the interstate. The 18 wheeler then skidded across the road and crashed into a highway guardrail. The trailer truck continued to slide along the guardrail for about 50 yards before finally coming to a rest blocking part of the southbound traffic lanes. The truck accident left the semi destroyed with its roof completely sheared off.
State and local police shut down a section of I-95 around the truck accident site during cleanup
No other persons or vehicles were involved in the truck accident.
Paramedics from the East Millinocket Fire Department rushed to the scene of the truck accident and attempted to give aid to the truck driver, who appeared to be trapped in the cab of his semi. However, Mr. Pepin received fatal injuries in the collision and officials believe he may have died upon impact.
State and local police shut down a section of I-95 around the truck accident site while highway crews worked to clean up the spilled load of chips and get the disabled trailer truck off the interstate. Traffic was reduced to one lane while the teams worked.
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Officials reconstructed the truck accident and interviewed witnesses. According to the woman who was driving the car that the semi was passing, the trailer truck was not speeding at the time when it suddenly started to tip and fishtail. The Maine State Police Commercial Truck Weights Unit were inspecting the tractor truck to determine if the load shifted or if there were mechanical failures that caused the collision.
A representative of the W.T. Gardner & Sons Trucking Company arrived at the scene of the deadly truck accident. He referred to the driver Mr. Pepin as “One of our better drivers.”
No citations have been made at this time and the truck accident remains under investigation.
For more information about Maine trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims rights, contact nationwide truck accident lawyers Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP for expert advice. For a free initial consultation, talk to a ME truck accident lawyer at 1.800.773.6770.
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