AUBURN – Six people were taken to a Lewiston hospital Friday afternoon after a car slammed into the back of a pickup truck on Route 4.

Police said the victims suffered a variety of injuries, but none of them appeared to be life threatening. They were examined at Central Maine Medical Center and later released.

About 11:45 a.m., 53-year-old Virginia Anderson, driving north in a GMC Sonoma pickup, was preparing to turn left into Gammon Landscape Nursery, police said.

A car behind her, a Ford Taurus driven by 18-year-old Bryon Hasch of Monmouth, failed to stop and plowed into the back of the truck.

“I was out doing lawn work, and I heard a big crash with no sounds of brakes being applied,” said Denis Leblanc, who lives in a house next to the nursery. “It took me a second to process what had happened.”

Leblanc said he initially believed the sound was caused by dump trucks at Gammon.

“Then I heard screeching,” he said. “I thought, ‘oh no.’ I knew it was going to be bad because I’ve seen it many times out here.”

The pickup truck was registered to Richard Anderson of Cumberland. He was treated at Central Maine Medical Center and later released, according to a nursing supervisor.

The Taurus is registered to Kelvin and Patricia Hasch Living Trust. No information about the passengers in that car was available Friday night.

Both vehicles were demolished.

Leblanc said the Friday afternoon crash was just one of dozens he has witnessed after living on Turner Road for three decades. He estimates he has seen 30 people killed in wrecks, most of them drivers who were trying to turn left from the highway.

“We fear for our lives out here,” Leblanc said. “A left turn is very dangerous because everybody is driving 60 mph or more. In my opinion, we need a turning lane that goes all the way out to the lake.”

Leblanc said he plans to contact his representative to address the issue of traffic and crashes on that stretch of Route 4.