The driver of a small SUV was injured Wednesday when her vehicle was struck by a pickup truck on Route 125 in Freeport, rolled several times and landed on two gasoline pumps in an accident that authorities said could have been far worse.
Ryan Doherty, owner of Doherty’s North Freeport Store at the intersection of Grant Road and Route 125, said he heard a loud crash and looked out his store windows in time to see the SUV flipping through the air before landing on the pumps upside-down. The accident occurred at about 12:50 p.m.
Freeport Fire Department Deputy Chief Paul Conley said the gas pumps were shoved off their base. The safety mechanisms worked and little fuel spilled, he said, noting those involved in the accident were “very lucky.”
The SUV driver, 41-year-old Karen Bradford of Durham, was transported by LifeFlight helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center, but does not have life-threatening injuries, said police Sgt. John Perrino. A nursing supervisor at the hospital said she was listed in good condition Wednesday evening.
The occupants of the pickup truck, driver Denise Chafe, 50, of Lisbon Falls, and her 15-year-old daughter were not injured.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, Perrino said.
“Everyone’s alive, that’s the best thing,” he said. “All kinds of things could have gone wrong.”
Doherty said the intersection has been problematic for years, usually when motorists misjudge the speed of approaching vehicles when pulling out of side streets onto Route 125. This was also not the first time a vehicle has landed on his property after an accident.
“They have hit the building before,” he said. “It’s been a tough intersection forever.”
Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:
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