Lobster hauler, pickup collide in Rockport
Camden First Aid and Camden Access Team crews work to remove 63-year-old Floyd Hews of Searsmont out of his pickup truck after he allegedly ran a stop sign at South Street and crossed Rockville Street into the path of an oncoming 18-wheeler. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
A portion of Rockville Street, near South Street, was closed to through traffic Sunday following an accident. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Crews prepare to remove Floyd Hews of Searmont from his pickup truck after an accident in Rockport late Sunday morning. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
According to Rockport Police Officer Dana Smith, Floyd Hews sustained minor injuries when he collided with a tractor trailer hauling lobsters Sunday. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
The impact of the crash split open the battery inside the engine of Floyd Hews pickup truck Sunday, according to Steve Laite of Camden Exxon. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
According to officials, had the big rig been a few seconds closer to the intersection, Floyd Hews and his pickup truck would have ended up under the trailer. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Rockport Police Officer Dana Smith talks to the driver of the tractor trailer, Ronald Goguen of New Brunswick. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Tractor trailer driver Ronald Goguen of New Brunswick said he "didn't have a chance to do nothing" when the other driver ran the stop sign. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Luckily, Floyd Hews was alone in his pickup truck Sunday when it collided with a tractor trailer in Rockport. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Ronald Goguen was hauling 62 crates of lobster, and en route to pick up 100 more down the road when the crash occurred. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Workers and friends of JC Wood Lobster Co.. in Rockport help offload the lobster onto another truck for eventual delivery to New Brunswick. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Pallets loaded with crates of lobsters are moved from one truck...(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
...to the other so they can continue their journey to a processor in New Brunswick Sunday. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Unfortunately for the lobsters, Sunday's accident did not alter their fate as another big rig was en route to take them to Canada later in the day Sunday. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Camden First Aid and Camden Access Team crews work to remove 63-year-old Floyd Hews of Searsmont out of his pickup truck after he allegedly ran a stop sign at South Street and crossed Rockville Street into the path of an oncoming 18-wheeler. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
A portion of Rockville Street, near South Street, was closed to through traffic Sunday following an accident. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Crews prepare to remove Floyd Hews of Searmont from his pickup truck after an accident in Rockport late Sunday morning. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
According to Rockport Police Officer Dana Smith, Floyd Hews sustained minor injuries when he collided with a tractor trailer hauling lobsters Sunday. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
The impact of the crash split open the battery inside the engine of Floyd Hews pickup truck Sunday, according to Steve Laite of Camden Exxon. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
According to officials, had the big rig been a few seconds closer to the intersection, Floyd Hews and his pickup truck would have ended up under the trailer. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Rockport Police Officer Dana Smith talks to the driver of the tractor trailer, Ronald Goguen of New Brunswick. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Tractor trailer driver Ronald Goguen of New Brunswick said he "didn't have a chance to do nothing" when the other driver ran the stop sign. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Luckily, Floyd Hews was alone in his pickup truck Sunday when it collided with a tractor trailer in Rockport. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Ronald Goguen was hauling 62 crates of lobster, and en route to pick up 100 more down the road when the crash occurred. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Workers and friends of JC Wood Lobster Co.. in Rockport help offload the lobster onto another truck for eventual delivery to New Brunswick. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Pallets loaded with crates of lobsters are moved from one truck...(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
...to the other so they can continue their journey to a processor in New Brunswick Sunday. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Unfortunately for the lobsters, Sunday's accident did not alter their fate as another big rig was en route to take them to Canada later in the day Sunday. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
ROCKPORT — A Searsmont man barely escaped serious injury late Sunday morning after his pickup truck was slammed into by an 18-wheeler hauling a load of lobster.
Ronald Goguen, 59, of Moncton, New Brunswick, was driving a tractor with a 53-foot-long trailer east on Rockville Street around 10:30 a.m. when a pickup truck failed to stop at the intersection of South Street.
"He never stopped at the stop sign, I didn't have a chance to do nothing," said Goguen.
Goguen rig struck the passenger's side of the pickup truck and pulled it down the road as both trucks went into the ditch. The tractor trailer went over a stone wall and ran along the top of the wall for at least 10 feet, possibly more.
Rockport Fire and Camden First Aid responded, along with the Camden Access Team.
Crews worked to remove from Floyd Hews, 63, of Searsmont from the driver's side of his truck. Hews did not appear to be seriously injured, according to Rockport Police Officer Dana Smith. Assisting Smith at the scene was Knox County Sheriff's Deputy Paul Spear.
Goguen was coming from Boothbay Harbor, where he had picked up 62 crates of live lobster. He was en route to JC Wood Lobster Co. on Rockville Street when the accident occured.
"He was coming to us to pick up another 100 crates and head back home to New Brunswick with the lobsters," said Jack Wood of JC Wood. "Ronald's been driving rigs for 20 years and I don't think he's ever had an accident. I've always known him to be a very safe driver."
Goguen said he was uninjured in the crash.
"I just feel bad for the other guy, but I didn't have no time to even react, it happened so fast," said Goguen.
Wood said a fully loaded 53-footer can weigh between 80,000 and 100,000 pounds. It can hold 448 crates. "It's the biggest trailer they make," said Wood.
Because it was a commercial truck and trailer, the state's Commercial Vehicles Dept. would be involved in investigating the cause. Smith said that no charges would be filed against either driver.
While awaiting an accident reconstructionist, Wood's crew, which had come to the scene from down the road, was given permission to offload the lobster into another truck so it could continue to its destination in New Brunswick.
"It's a good thing the price of lobster is so low," joked one of the guys. "But they're packed up well and probably just fine in there."
Event Date
Address
Rockville Street
Rockport, ME 04856
United States
