Two men were hospitalized with serious injuries Tuesday after what authorities described as a major head-on snowmobile crash in Tim Pond Township, and another man was injured after crashing his snowmobile in Casco.
In Tim Pond Township, Ryan Jones, 24, of Jefferson, was approaching a curve in a trail around noon Tuesday on his snowmobile when it was struck by a snowmobile driven by Michael Ouellette, 52, of Topsham, who had entered the corner from the opposite direction at a high rate of speed, according to a news release from Cpl. John MacDonald, of the Maine Warden Service.
Both men suffered serious injuries in the crash and both their snowmobiles sustained major damage.
Ouellette was taken by Lifeflight helicopter to a trauma center in Lewiston, McDonald said, while Jones was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington for treatment of injures to his shoulder and face.
Both riders were wearing helmets.
The crash is under investigation by wardens and, McDonald said in the release, it appears speed was a contributing factor.
Tim Pond Township is in Franklin County.
Also around noon Tuesday, Dean Dunton, 55, of Casco, was riding his snowmobile on a section of trail on a pipeline in Casco when he struck some unevenly packed snow and was ejected from his machine.
He was taken by Lifeflight helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for evaluation. Excessive speed appeared to be a factor in that crash as well, according to the warden service.
The warden service urged snowmobilers to slow down and provide plenty of time to stop or react to an unexpected object in the trail or an oncoming snowmobiler.
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