WEST PARIS, Maine — Two local teenagers are dead and two others are in the hospital after an early Saturday morning accident caused by drinking and text messaging while driving, Maine State Police Trooper Tom Welch said.
“Alcohol and distracted driving are the primary causation factors,” the trooper said.
State police got the call for help at around 12:15 a.m., and when they arrived they found a mangled Subaru Impreza at the foot of a bunch of trees off Route 219.
Passengers Logan Dam, 19, and Rebecca Mason, 16, a student at Oxford Hills Comprehsive High School, were both killed instantly, Welch said.
Driver Kristina Lowe, 18, and passenger Jacob Skaff, 22, of South Paris were both seriously injured. Lowe was taken to Maine Medical Center and was listed in serious condition at noontime and Skaff “had serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” the trooper said.
He is being treated at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway.
A state police accident reconstructionist is investigating the fatal crash.
“The car drifted off the roadway, struck a driveway … [and] went airborne,” Welch said. The vehicle “collided with a group of trees and came to rest at the base of the trees. The car actually hit the trees roof first.”
Lowe had been drinking and “she was texting,” the trooper said.
The deaths of the two teenagers are bound to have devastating effects on the the people who loved them and their communities, Welch said.
“This is just another one of those prime examples of why alcohol and distracted driving don’t mix,” he said. “That is why they are against the law.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
