Two Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) workers were killed and a third injured this morning in a crash on I-95 in Waterville.
Investigators say 34-year-old Samantha Tupper ran the stop sign in a bridge construction zone and attempted to enter the passing lane on I-95 southbound. She was hit by a tractor-trailer which forced her minivan into the work zone, striking three MDOT workers.
Police say 60-year-old James Brown and 51-year-old Dwayne Campbell, both of Waterville, were propelled over the bridge and onto Kennedy Memorial Drive below. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
A third worker was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Tupper was taken to the hospital with non life threatening injuries. Two young children in the vehicle were not injured.
Maine Turnpike directory Andre Briere says driver speed is a major safety issue for highway construction crews across the country. He said on Maine Calling Tuesday that his agency conducted a study this summer, and took two and half million measurements of driver speed moving through work zones
"What we found was that between 65% and 75% of vehicles transiting our work zones were going in excess of 11 miles an hour over the speed limit," Briere said.
He said says driver speed and inattention are major safety issues for highway construction crews.
"Over the past five years we've had almost 3,000 work zone crashes...2,979 to be exact as of a couple of months ago, and I wish I could say that count wasn't increasing," he said.
Briere is supporting legislation in Augusta that would establish automated speed enforcement in work zones by capturing images of license plates on vehicles travelling more than 11 miles over the limit.
