TURNER — Police said a teenager was lucky to escape with minor injuries when the sedan she was driving was hit broadside Tuesday morning by a tractor-trailer.
A tractor-trailer from Columbia River Transportation out of Columbia, N.H., ran off the road and into the trees on Route 4 in Turner near the intersection of Route 117 on Tuesday.
Samantha Allen, 16, of Harrison crossed Route 4 westbound in a 2001 Kia into the path of a 2000 Peterbilt tractor-trailer driven by Robert Wheeler, 40, of North Stratford, N.H., police said.
The truck slammed into the middle of the passenger side of the car, which bounced into a sport utility vehicle that was stopped at a stop sign facing east on Buckfield Road.
The Kia, owned by Brenda Creighton of Harrison, was demolished.
After hitting the car, the truck continued south, went over the shoulder of the road and down into a muddy gully, and stopped against a small stand of trees. It was hauling bark mulch.
Allen and the driver of the 1998 Ford Explorer, Brian Saucier, 31, of Turner, were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. Wheeler was unhurt, said Maine State Trooper Corey Huckins, who investigated the crash.
No citation was issued.
Allen said she didn't see the truck, Huckins said. Witnesses said that appeared to be the case, he said.
He said the cause of the crash likely was driver inattention due to inexperience.
All drivers involved wore seat belts, Huckins said. The air bag in the car Allen drove deployed.
“It's lucky everyone was wearing a seat belt and extremely lucky that Samantha's alive,” Huckins said.
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