Moose Causes Tractor Trailer Crash on the Interstate in Richmond
A tractor-trailer fully loaded with potatoes from northern Maine went off the Interstate highway Tuesday night after the driver swerved to avoid a moose.
State police say the accident happened around 10:15 p.m. in the southbound lanes of I-295 in the coastal Maine town of Richmond. State Troopers and Sagadahoc Sheriffs Deputies responded to the crash.
The driver, 63-year-old Marc Benoit of Hampden, Massachusetts told police that he swerved to avoid a moose that had run onto the highway and he lost control of the rig.
The tractor-trailer went off the median side, traveling several hundred feet before striking a cross-over embankment and ended up in a boggy ravine, according to a press release from the Public Safety Department. The impact broke the box portion of the truck in half, spilling the load of potatoes .
Benoit sustained minor injuries to his legs and was transported to Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick.
The truck, owned by AJA GO Transportation, was bound for Connecticut with a load of potatoes from northern Maine.