By Tim Badgley
The roof of a Subaru hatchback was sheared off in a collision with a dump truck near the intersection of Route 1 and Sheepscot Road in Newcastle Aug. 7. Newcastle Fire Department personnel cut further into the crushed hatchback to extricate the driver and his female passenger for transport by Central Lincoln County Ambulance. (Tim Badgley photo) |
Updated Aug. 11 at 8:15 a.m.
A collision involving a Subaru hatchback and a Dodge Ram 3500 dump truck injured two individuals at the intersection of Route 1 and Sheepscot Road in Newcastle Thursday afternoon.
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The crumpled roof and rear door sheared from a Subaru in a collision with a dump truck at the intersection of Route 1 and Sheepscot Road lies at the south edge of Seacoast Energy Solution’s driveway in Newcastle Aug. 7. (Tim Badgley photo) |
Nicholas Wright of South Bristol, driver of the Subaru and his passenger Sabrina Willey, both born in 1994, were transported by Central Lincoln County Ambulance from the scene of the accident. The driver of the 2007 Dodge Ram 3500 dump truck, Thomas George of Alna, appeared uninjured and later drove away in the truck.
The sheared off roof of the car was lying approximately 100 feet from where the car came to rest, with its passengers still inside. Newcastle firefighters extricated Wright and Willey from the crushed vehicle.
Emergency responders were paged out at 1:12 p.m. Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene kept Route 1 traffic moving in both directions.
Two customer service representatives of Seacoast Energy Solutions, located at the intersection, witnessed portions of the accident. Barb Greenleaf, of Westport Island, and her co-worker Bonnie Lane both heard the collision.
Lane said that she was talking to a LCSO deputy at that moment. “I started screaming
into the phone,” Lane said. “I told him to get emergency services here immediately.”
The deputy told her he would contact 911 immediately, Lane said.
Greenleaf said she saw the Subaru drive into the Seacoast Energy Solutions parking lot.
“I was sitting at my desk and heard a loud crash. I looked out just in time to see the white car going really fast across our driveway,” Greenleaf said. “I looked out and saw pieces falling.”
Debris from the car and its contents were strewn across the driveway entrance.
LCSO Major Ken Mason said the truck was stopped in the northbound lane of Route 1 signalling a left turn onto Sheepscot Road.
“Wright traveling northbound on Route 1 failed to see the truck stopped in traffic,” Mason said. “Wright’s vehicle struck the right rear of the truck shearing the roof off the Subaru.”
Mason said Wright’s vehicle continued north, striking a curb then going airborne before landing in a ditch parallel with Route 1 immediately in front of Seacoast Energy Solutions.
Wright may have possibly been following the truck to closely, Mason said. Driver inattention seems to have also been a contributing factor to the accident.
Both Wright and Willey were discharged from Maine Medical Center in Portland Aug. 7.
The Lincoln County News will continue to follow this story.
