A Quebec man was killed Thursday night when his car struck a bull moose on Interstate 95 near Lincoln.

State Police said 53-year-old Christian Tremblay of Laval, Quebec, was killed instantly in the crash.

It was the second highway fatality of the day. An 18-year-old man died in a crash in Waldo earlier in the day.

In Lincoln, Tremblay’s wife and two other passengers in the car escaped injury after the car struck the moose, according to Maine Department of Public Safety Spokesman Stephen McCausland.

State Trooper Barry Meserve said the crash took place about 9:30 in the northbound lane. Meserve said the moose came out on the highway from the median and was struck on the driver’s side of the car.

The animal then came through the windshield and crushed the roof of the Volkswagen Jetta. Tremblay’s wife was able to grab the wheel of the car, and it came to rest along the side of the interstate, Meserve said.

It was the second fatal moose-car collision in Maine this year.

State Police reminded motorists that moose are nearly invisible at night, and that if a collision is imminent, the driver should attempt strike the animal at an angle so that it does not come into the vehicle’s passenger compartment.

Earlier in the day, an 18-year-old from Pennsylvania died after a two-vehicle collision at routes 131 and 137 in Waldo.

David Willett of Pennsylvania was a passenger in a car that pulled out in front of a pickup truck, police said. The car was driven by 17-year-old Thomas Piersiak of Knox.

The pickup was operated by Belinda Grajewski, 54, of Brooks, police said. The two drivers and their five other passengers, including Willette, were all taken to area hospitals. Willett died at Eastern Maine Medical Center late in the afternoon.

McCausland said the state’s highway death count is now 87, heading into the long holiday weekend. That’s 27 percent more than last year.

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