Executive Summary
- A 17-year-old girl died in a snowmobile crash in Washburn, Maine, on Saturday afternoon.
- The Maine Warden Service reports the driver was speeding and failed to negotiate a 90-degree turn.
- The teenage driver was hospitalized with multiple injuries after the vehicle struck a house.
A 17-year-old girl was killed and a teenage boy sustained injuries in a snowmobile accident in Washburn, Maine, on Saturday afternoon, according to the Maine Warden Service.
Authorities reported that the crash occurred around 1:00 p.m. on Story Street. Wardens stated that a 17-year-old male was operating the snowmobile with the female victim riding as a passenger at the time of the incident.
According to investigators, the driver approached a 90-degree turn in the road at a speed that was too fast to successfully navigate the corner. The snowmobile subsequently struck a curb, overturned, and collided with the side of a residential structure. Both teenagers were ejected from the vehicle during the impact.
The Maine Warden Service confirmed that the female passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. Her identity has been withheld pending family notification. The driver was transported to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for treatment of multiple injuries.
Investigative Outlook
The incident remains under active investigation by the Maine Warden Service as authorities work to reconstruct the precise mechanics of the collision. Fatal accidents involving off-road vehicles on public roadways often prompt scrutiny regarding operator speed and adherence to terrain limitations. The investigation will likely focus on the correlation between the vehicle’s speed and the sharp road geometry on Story Street to finalize the cause of the fatality.
