Terrible Tractor July 4th Parade accident in Maine

Katahdin · Jul 4, 2013

A man riding an antique John Deere tractor was crushed when an antique Bangor Fire Truck lost control going down a small hill.

Man crushed by antique firetruck at Independence Day parade — Bangor — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine

I own an antique army truck, I didn't make it out to any parades today, but the liability of owning it and keeping the brake system to keep it safe is always a concern. I feel terribly for the deceased tractor driver and the men riding in the fire truck.

creekbend · Jul 4, 2013

Thanks for posting.

MIKE R · Jul 4, 2013

Oh my. That sure makes me think diferently about tractor parades.

Scooby074 · Jul 5, 2013

Tragic.

tcreeley · Jul 5, 2013

A sad day- just read this. I'd heard earlier about the man in town with the gun- in the online edition.
This is not the news that anyone lives for- just sad.

94BULLITT · Jul 5, 2013

That is terrible.

bubbacuse77 · Jul 5, 2013

Very sad for everyone

CliffordK · Jul 5, 2013

The anguished look on the face of the young blond-haired man who was driving the firetruck told Haskell that he knew he was going to hit the tractor and was helpless to prevent it. Haskell estimated that the truck was going about 5 mph and that there was 菟robably not 5 feet between the vehicles.

Are we to believe the public safety department was driving a 80 year old vehicle weighing several tons downhill and around a "tight corner", with only half a tractor length spacing between vehicles?

The road appears to be essentially 4 lanes wide... and no way to avoid hitting the tractor? Obviously there are spectators, but at all the parades I've seen, the spectators give the parade a very wide berth.

Parades can be noisy, but I would think there would be some way to alert the tractor driver of his peril. At least the truck behind the antique looks like it should have had horns louder than fog horns.

MossRoad · Jul 5, 2013

I believe the account of 5' of separation was from a witness who indicated she realized that they were going to hit when they were 5' apart, not implying that they were 5' apart during the entire procession.