By Tiffany Williams –
FALMOUTH, Maine — A teenage driver is dead after her car slammed off the roadway and into a guardrail Saturday afternoon on a busy stretch of highway in Falmouth, a crash authorities say was driven by dangerous winter conditions.
State troopers were dispatched at about 1:57 p.m. to the Falmouth Spur eastbound near the on-ramp to Interstate 295 north after reports that a vehicle had gone off the road. When troopers and Falmouth Fire and Rescue arrived, they found a white 2013 Subaru Impreza wrecked against the guardrail, the driver trapped inside.
The driver was identified as 19-year-old Joamaliz Orozco of East Hartford, Connecticut.
Rescuers worked to free Orozco from the mangled vehicle before she was rushed to Maine Medical Center. She did not survive. Authorities said she was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Investigators believe weather and road conditions were the primary factors in the crash, underscoring the risks drivers face when winter conditions turn highways into hazards with little warning.
The crash remains under investigation.
Falmouth Fire and Rescue assisted at the scene along with the Maine Department of Transportation and Stewart’s Towing.