ROXBURY — Ice and slush on Route 120 on Friday contributed to two drivers losing control of their cars in separate accidents.
The first accident at about 11:27 a.m. cut the power for about two hours to 1,067 Central Maine Power customers in Andover, Byron, Roxbury and Rumford, CMP spokeswoman Gail Rice said.
In that incident, Oxford County Sheriff Sgt. Timothy Holland said Jonathan Ferreria, 23, of Roxbury was driving east in a 2009 Pontiac Vibe when he drove into gravelly slush in a curve.
The car veered across the opposite lane and hit the anchor utility pole for a substation across the way, splintering the pole and causing it to lean toward the car but not snap.
“It looks like he got caught in slush and it sucked him right into the pole,” Holland said.
Ferreria was not injured. Holland estimated damage to the Pontiac, which is owned by Advance Auto Parts of Mexico, at $5,000, and at least $5,000 to the utility pole.
Roxbury firefighters directed one-way traffic around the accident until CMP linemen arrived to splint the pole. The road was briefly closed to allow a Bisson and Hebert tow truck driver to remove the car from the pole as a snow squall moved in.
Holland said drivers using Route 120 through the Roxbury Notches area during winter should slow down, because the surface is often icy and treacherous.
He said he expected more traffic accidents to happen on the road Friday due to drivers failing to heed road conditions. Sure enough, one did at about 2 p.m., 30 minutes after responders had cleared from the first accident.
Holland said that 3 miles east of Ferreria’s accident, Lawrence Ward Jr., 29, of Rumford lost control of his westbound 1997 Ford Taurus while descending a steep hill.
Holland said the Taurus spun 180 degrees in the road, crossed the opposite lane, went off the road backward and hit a pine tree.
The car then spun around three times off the road while sliding downhill over rocks and came to rest with the front end nosed into trees.
“He was driving too fast for road conditions,” Holland said
Ward wasn’t injured. Holland attributed the lack of injuries in both accidents to safety belts and air bags.
Roxbury firefighters again directed one-way traffic, before shutting it down briefly to allow an Adley’s tow truck to retrieve the totaled Taurus, which was loaded with blocks of wood.
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- As a Central Maine Power Co. lineman arrives Friday afternoon to splint a shattered pole, right, on Route 120, driver Jonathan Ferreria, 23, of Roxbury walks past the Advance Auto Parts 2009 Pontiac Vibe he was driving. The accident cut power for two hours to more than 1,000 CMP customers in Andover, Byron, Roxbury and Rumford.
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- Police said Friday afternoon that Lawrence Ward Jr., 29, of Rumford, the driver of this demolished 1997 Ford Taurus, escaped injury after losing control on ice at the top of a steep hill on Route 120 in Roxbury.
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