Monday’s single-vehicle car crash that seriously injured two adults and killed a 4-year-old boy is the latest in a string of dangerous accidents that have occurred in Casco on Route 11 near Hancock Lumber’s Ryefield saw mill.

Though the mill is in a straightaway area where the speed limit is 50 miles per hour, other sections of the densely forested and undulating state road, though repaved in recent years, feature many twists and turns.

Monday’s accident occurred just before 6 a.m., and was the result, authorities say, of an unlicensed driver, Michael Minson of 22 Whitney Road in Gray, speeding and losing control of a 1993 Honda Civic shortly after passing another vehicle on his way to work at Dunkin’ Donuts in Naples. Details as to how fast the vehicle was traveling have not been released, due to the ongoing investigation.

While an accident reconstruction team from Windham police and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office is still working on the case, Sheriff Kevin Joyce said Minson was driving recklessly on a suspended license, and probably overcorrected after overtaking the car and then veered into an electrical pole, slicing the car in two. Joyce said the front half of the Honda was lying more than 10 feet from the back half, indicating the force with which the vehicle struck the pole.

Passenger Crystal Petersen of Gray, who was likely the girlfriend of Minson, according to sheriff’s Capt. Don Goulet, was sent to Bridgton Hospital and then to Central Maine Medical Center. A hospital spokesman reported Wednesday afternoon that she was still in critical condition. Her 4-year-old son, Cameron Petersen, was ejected from the vehicle and declared dead at the scene.

Joyce said the reconstruction team has yet to determine if the boy was properly strapped into a booster seat that was found beside the vehicle, or whether the adults were wearing their seat belts. He said the seat-belt mechanism had been destroyed in the collision.

No charges have been filed, due to the ongoing investigation that could take several weeks. But Joyce on Wednesday was blaming Minson for “reckless driving” that resulted in death and injury.

“This little guy didn’t have to die,” he said, referring to the 4-year-old. “The whole thing was preventable.”

Goulet explained that Minson had never been issued a Maine license, though he was stopped for traffic violations in the past and was considered by law as a suspended driver.

According to Joyce, the accident is the latest in a string of deadly crashes that have taken place near the Hancock Lumber mill on Route 11.

Earlier this year, the passenger in another single-vehicle rollover crash managed to survive after being ejected into a snow bank during a crash in April. The driver, from Vermont, also suffered non-life threatening injuries. That vehicle also collided with a roadside electrical pole.

In September 2010, two passengers were killed on the same stretch of Route 11 after heading to a variety store on Route 302 to purchase alcohol at night. The driver, who was traveling without his headlights on, drove away at speeds exceeding 80 mph from a pursuing deputy. After the driver lost control, the vehicle crashed upside down into a large pine tree in almost the same spot as Monday’s crash.

Joyce also remembers a horrific scene more than a decade ago when multiple people died in one accident.

“In this particular half-mile stretch of Route 11, there have been nine people killed as the result of traffic accidents, one of which was about 10 years ago, five people were killed in one accident, coincidentally enough directly across from where this occurred,” Joyce said at the time of the 2010 accident. “It’s not necessarily a dangerous road per se, it’s just unfortunately the danger of people traveling at a high rate of speed has been the causation factor in a lot of these deaths.”

Joyce echoed similar sentiments after this week’s crash, saying the roadway is not unlike many in the area, but requires common sense and staying within the posted speed limit.

“Yesterday, we weren’t talking about ice, we weren’t talking about snow,” he said. “But that section of Route 11 is hilly, has lots of curves, has a propensity for animals to cross the road, and like any other road if you’re going over the speed limit, it’s a recipe for disaster, which is what we saw again on Monday.”

David Morton, who’s been town manager of Casco for 37 years, has also seen his share of accidents along Route 11. He said most have occurred as eastbound drivers travel past Hancock Lumber approaching the corners. Monday’s crash occurred westbound before Minson reached the straightaway.

“It’s normally traffic going the other direction. They wind it up (coming by the mill) and then don’t make the corner,” said Morton, who referred to Monday’s incident as a “horrible tragedy,” “frustrating and sad.”

He agreed with Joyce that the 50 mph limit is appropriate and that accidents occur when other factors like speeding and alcohol come into play.

“The issue isn’t with the speed limit, it’s with getting people to follow them,” Morton said, “Everybody is in a hurry, they’re not thinking. But it’s hard to convince people that the posted speed limits are for everyone’s safety.”

Skid marks show the path of travel of the vehicle driven by Michael Minson as he veered off Route 11 toward an electrical pole early Monday morning in Casco.Courtesy photo