BETHEL — State and county police said early Friday afternoon that there will be no charges against the driver of a tractor-trailer truck loaded with wood chips that rolled over Tuesday on Route 5.
Additionally, there will be no charges or fines levied against the owner of the truck and trailer, E.J. Carrier of Jackman, said Trooper Mike Jillson of the Maine State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division.
Oxford County Deputy Sheriff Andrew Whitney, who also investigated the accident, said Friday through an administrator that he isn’t pressing charges, either.
Other than the fact that the 2012 Freightliner was 6 percent overweight at 106,600 pounds, the truck and trailer had no defects, Jillson said. Maine’s maximum weight is 100,000 pounds.
“It’s close to the typical weight for chip trucks,” Jillson said of the 106,600 pounds.
But he said the extra weight didn’t cause the crash that shut down Route 5 for most of the day and sent the driver, Alex B. Spencer, 28, of Chesterville, to a Lewiston hospital by medical helicopter with non-life threatening injuries.
Instead, Jillson said a front tire on the tractor went off the pavement and into the soft dirt and sand on the shoulder, causing the truck to roll over into trees lining the road. Spencer was pinned in the crushed cab and had to be extricated.
Whitney said Tuesday at the scene that Spencer was driving north when the accident happened at 10 a.m. as Spencer rounded a sharp corner.
“I think the driver was just going a little too fast for the curve, but that right-front tire went off into the shoulder, and that was it,” Jillson said. “The extra weight wouldn’t have caused the truck to roll over.”
He said the chip trailer was a 2013 model that had hardly been used, so it was “brand new and essentially a 2015.”
Jillson said that while the owner was anguished over the loss of the truck and trailer, which sustained extensive damage, they were concerned about Spencer’s well-being.
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- A northbound tractor trailer truck rolled over on Route 5 in Bethel on Tuesday, taking down a utility pole and lines, causing the road to be shut down for much of the day. The cab, with a headlight still on, is visible at left, and rescuers in lime green vests work to remove Spencer.
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