LEWISTON — Freezing rain caused treacherous driving conditions Friday but led to few major crashes.
“I’ll tell you, throughout the entire county, we didn’t even have a car slide off the road. And it was nasty (weather),” said Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. “But everybody behaved themselves. We didn’t have a single accident.”
He and Lewiston police — who saw few accidents Friday — credited area closures for keeping people off the roads.
“I think the fact there was no school, so people didn’t have to scramble around, probably helped,” Lewiston Lt. Adam Higgins said.
Auburn police also saw few accidents, all of them minor.
“It’s just the end of the winter and people are getting their skills down a little bit. It was icy and they slowed down,” Auburn Detective Chad Syphers said.
Schools throughout the region closed Friday. Some, including those in Lewiston and Auburn, initially instituted a two-hour delay. When the National Weather Service extended its the freezing rain advisory, those schools called off classes for the day, too.
Other organizations also adjusted for the weather. Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn and Franklin County Superior Court in Farmington opened late Friday. CityLink suspended bus service in Lewiston and Auburn until mid-morning. The Maine Turnpike reduced speed to 45 mph until Friday afternoon.
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