A Poland man was killed early Tuesday morning when the car he was driving slid sideways into an oncoming pickup truck, police said.

The storm caused widespread traffic problems and knocked out power to thousands of people. As of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, 34,000 Central Maine Power Co. customers were without service, the company stated in a news release.

The fatality was one of dozens of accidents during a storm that brought the first significant snowfall to much of Maine.

Ronald. E. Herrick, 69, of 10 Perkins Road was pronounced dead at the scene, said Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Capt. Ray Lafrance.

Herrick was driving a Saturn sedan on Poland Corner Road in Poland shortly before 6:30 a.m. when he apparently lost control of the car on a curve. The car slid sideways in slush and crossed the center line into the oncoming lane. A 2002 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck driven by Brian Spiller, 49, of 19 True St., Mechanic Falls, struck the sedan near the center of the passenger side, police said.

Spiller, who was traveling with three other men on their way to hunt deer, complained of neck pain and was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

Herrick and Spiller both wore seat belts, police said.

Poland Fire and Rescue cut Herrick from the car’s wreckage.

Also riding in Spiller’s truck were Timothy Goss, 52, of Minot; Steven Tripp, 24, of Oxford; and Kim Tripp, 46, of Oxford.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office investigated the accident and Maine State Police reconstructed the scene. Poland Corner Road was closed during cleanup.

Lafrance said authorities had braced for such an event, given the weather forecast. Snow turned to rain just south and east of the region.

“We know the first storm of the year always comes with a lot of accidents,” Lafrance said. “People are not used to driving in these types of conditions. It doesn’t take much with slushy snow.”

He said motorists should prepare for the season by changing over to snow tires and changing the way they drive. He said they should slow down and anticipating slippery road surfaces.

Wind causes outages

Elsewhere in the region, cars skidded off roads and into each other.

Rescue workers in Greene lifted a 2001 Jeep Cherokee SUV from the leg of Nathan Morton, 19, at about 3 a.m. Tuesday. He apparently lost control of the vehicle on Meadow Hill Road after swerving to avoid a deer, police said.

A passing motorist spotted the SUV about 25 feet from the road’s shoulder. Morton said he had been trapped for several hours, police said.

CMP was bringing in help from out of state to deal with downed power lines. The coastal region ws the hardest hit, but thousands of customers in western Maine also lost service.

“Most of these outages have been caused by strong winds and tree contact with our lines,” said CMP spokesman John Carroll. “Poor driving conditions have also been a problem, as there have been several reports of motor vehicles hitting CMP poles and disrupting power to people in the area.”