FREEPORT

Traffic stalled for approximately three hours after a vehicle crashed into a guardrail along Interstate 295 in Freeport on Thursday afternoon.

Maine State Trooper Marvin Hinkley said the crash, which was reported at 3:19 p.m., occurred in the northbound lane near mile marker 25 — which Hinkley estimated is about a half mile from the Brunswick town line.

Freeport Fire and Rescue crews responded to the crash. A southbound North East Mobile Health Services ambulance stopped, and its crew cared for the driver, 74-yearold Anne Brecher of Danbury, Conn.

Hinkley said Brecher was driving a 2004 Honda Accord in the passing lane. The crash happened after she “apparently checked her GPS and went off the shoulder, and in the process of correcting and coming back, she lost control and ended up going into the guardrail,” Hinkley said.

Brecher, the sole occupant, got out of the car and was alert when rescuers arrived. She suffered abrasions and experienced neck pain. An ambulance took her to a hospital, Hinkley said.

The vehicle sustained significant front-end damage. Because the Honda couldn’t be driven, police closed the passing lane until it could be moved, which caused traffic to back up.

Also, when the car hit the guardrail, it pushed the guardrail toward the southbound passing lane, Hinkley said, so MDOT crews closed down that lane to repair the guardrail, backing up southbound traffic all the way to Exit 28 in Brunswick until about 6:30 p.m.

Hinkley said he did not file any charges against Brecher.