NEW GLOUCESTER – Speed and alcohol are being blamed for a Saturday evening single-car accident on Pond Road that killed a driver and destroyed the car. Police declined to release the name of the young man who was driving the four-door Mazda sedan at about 6:20 p.m. Saturday eastbound on Pond Road, east of Route 126.

Trooper Robert Burke said the vehicle veered off the dirt road and into a tree.

The airbags in the car deployed, but it appeared the driver was not wearing a seat belt, Burke said. The driver was the only person in the car at the time of the accident, Burke said. Ambulances responded to the accident, as did a LifeFlight helicopter. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.