LEWISTON – A Lewiston teenager was critically injured and a woman riding with him was hurt Friday afternoon when their car was struck by a tractor-trailer near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Witnesses said it appeared the teen driving the Saturn attempted to make a U-turn in front of the rig as he approached the bridge. The vehicles collided near the bridge ramp where Russell Street merges with Main.

Both vehicles were headed west toward Auburn when they crashed about 2 p.m., investigators said. Police were not releasing the names of the victims Friday night.

The driver of the Saturn was a 19-year-old Lewiston man, police said. His passenger was an 18-year-old from Minot.

Police quickly closed the bridge to east and westbound traffic as emergency vehicles made their way to the scene. Traffic backed up on both Lewiston and Auburn sides of the bridge as a result.

The tractor-trailer struck the driver’s side of the Saturn, crushing both the front and back of the car. The car was pushed for several feet, police said.

The truck driver, a 36-year-old man believed to live in the area, was not hurt in the wreck.

A dozen police, fire and rescue workers struggled for more than 20 minutes to free the driver from his mangled car. He and his passenger were each taken to Central Maine Medical Center where a trauma team was waiting.

The tractor-trailer is owned by BSP Trucking, a transportation company based in Londonderry, N.H. It was unclear what the rig was being used to haul at the time of the crash.

The eastbound lane of the bridge was opened to traffic shortly after the victims were freed. The westbound lane remained closed for more than an hour as cleanup began and police began an investigation.

By early in the evening, one westbound lane was open.

Maine State Police sent several officers to Lewiston to assist with a reconstruction of the crash. Because a tractor-trailer was involved, the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Team also sent investigators.

Drivers heading into or out of the Twin Cities either found different routes or they spent more time stuck in traffic near the bridge, police said.

“We had 45 minutes to an hour of backed up traffic,” said Auburn police Lt. Tim Cougle. “Some commuters had to use the South Bridge or alternate routes.”

While the crash was being investigated and the victims were being treated, police in both Lewiston and Auburn were sent scrambling to a slew of unrelated wrecks.

Starting about 4 p.m., crashes of several varieties were reported in both cities. A car struck a building at Sabattus and North Temple streets, in Lewiston. A child on a bicycle was struck by a vehicle at Main and Curtis streets.

In Auburn, a woman in a wheelchair was struck by a vehicle at Center Street and Northern Avenue. She was examined after complaining of pain.

There were no life-threatening injuries as a result of those wrecks, but police said the number of crashes sapped the number of cops and paramedics available for each call.

“We’ve been right out straight,” Cougle said.

Police could offer no explanation for the rash of car wrecks, although some speculated that sunny, warm weather prompted some people to drive faster and recklessly.
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