Police say the crash site has been a “problem spot.”

TURNER – A 60-year-old Auburn man died Friday on Route 4 when an oncoming pickup truck crossed the center line and struck him head on.

Police say Carl V. Thomas was pronounced dead at the scene of the early morning accident.

The driver of the oncoming truck, John R. Mincher, 53, of Livermore, was also hurt in the crash. He was taken to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center where he was admitted with undisclosed injuries.

In all, three trucks collided, said Capt. Raymond Lafrance of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office. The third truck’s driver, Donald Ferland of Greene, was unhurt in the crash.

Authorities know what happened, said Lafrance. But they don’t know why.

Police say the crash began when Mincher, heading south on Route 4, crossed the center line in his 1998 Ford Ranger.

The truck hit Thomas’s 1988 Ford Ranger, which was headed north.

It started a chain reaction. Ferland, driving a 1998 Chevrolet pickup, had been following Thomas in the northbound lane. He swerved to avoid the collision, sideswiping Thomas’s truck.

The accident happened about 6:45 a.m., just south of the Route 117 intersection. Until about 12:30 p.m., traffic was diverted around the accident team while the scene was investigated. Lafrance said traffic was slowed but it never quite stopped.

A reconstruction team from the Maine State Police and a representative of the District Attorney’s office both went to the scene Friday morning. Police also interviewed witnesses.

The accident location has been a perennial problem spot, the scene of several fatalities in recent years.

Lafrance said he and Turner town leaders asked the state to lower the speed limit in the area to 35 miles per hour. The limit is now 50.

However, the state refused. State officials said the road is designed for its speed limit.

It is not yet known whether speed was a factor in the Friday crash, Lafrance said.

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