A Turner teenager was killed Wednesday morning when a truck hauling a tractor collided with his sedan, authorities said.
Alan Coffin, 17, was driving west in his Suzuki Forenza on Route 117 in Turner when was struck by a silver Dodge Ram pickup truck towing a skid steer tractor. Coffin had just stopped and crossed through the intersection at Route 4, police said.
He died immediately, according to Androscoggin Sheriff’s Deputy Lt. Glenn Holt.
The pickup driver, who police identified as 35-year-old Nicholas Dupile, also of Turner, hit Coffin’s sedan squarely between its front and back tire on the driver’s side, pushing it up Route 4 and onto the shoulder of the southbound lane, Holt said.
Dupile was not injured in the crash, which happened just before 7:23 a.m. and was witnessed by multiple people, Holt said.
Another vehicle, a tan 2009 Dodge Ram driven by 45-year-old Harry Haylock, was headed southbound on Route 4, and about to take a left on 117 when it swerved to avoid the Dupile and Coffin. Haylock ended up just barely hitting the rear end of Dupile’s pickup. He wasn’t injured, Holt said.
Route 4 was closed and traffic was detoured for four and a half hours while the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police, and the Maine State police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit investigated the crash. The road was cleared just before noon.
State police are reconstructing the crash, and investigators are looking into the cause. They are factoring in speed, the payload of Dupile commercially registered truck and whether the drivers were using their cellphones at the time, Holt said.
Dupile’s and Coffin’s vehicles sustained major damage and have been impounded for further investigation.
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