Police: Sleepy Route 2 driver collides with snowbank, utility pole at Rumford Point

RUMFORD — A Rumford man escaped serious injury late Wednesday afternoon when his car collided with an island of snow and a utility pole at the intersection of Routes 2 and 232 at Rumford Point, police said.

Scott A. Mills, 49, complained of shoulder pain and was examined inside a Med-Care Ambulance at the scene, but declined to be taken to a hospital, Rumford police Sgt. Doug Maifeld said.

The accident occurred at about 4:36 p.m. Maifeld said Mills told him that he recently had been released from Rumford Hospital, where he had been a patient.

The sergeant said Mills was driving a maroon 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse west on Route 2 when he fell asleep.

According to evidence at the scene and Maifeld, the car veered across the centerline in the 25 mph zone and collided with a traffic island of crusty, plowed snow. The car continued up the mound of snow and collided head-on with an old utility pole, narrowly missing two other utility poles.

Rumford firefighters directed traffic around the scene, taking over for two passers-by who stopped to direct traffic.

Traffic on Route 2 was reduced to one lane as the car was towed. Rumford police do not provide damage estimates.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

: Rumford fire Chief Bob Chase, left, and fire Deputy Chief Ben Byam examine damage to a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse involved in a crash Wednesday. Its driver told police he fell asleep while heading west on Route 2 at Rumford Point.

: A line of drivers headed west on Route 2 at the intersection of Route 232 in Rumford Point wait for firefighters to direct oncoming traffic late Wednesday afternoon. The driver of the 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse at right told police he fell asleep while driving west and collided with the island of crusty snow and an old utility pole.

: The driver of this 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse is being tended to in the Med-Care Ambulance parked in the background. He told police he fell asleep late Wednesday afternoon while driving west on Route 2 and collided with an island of snow and a utility pole at the intersection of Route 232 at Rumford Point.

: A 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse waits for a tow atop an island of snow after its driver told police he fell asleep at the wheel late Wednesday afternoon while driving west on Route 2 at the intersection with Route 232 in Rumford Point.