HAVERHILL — The parents of West Newbury police Chief Lisa Holmes escaped injury when a pickup truck collided with the truck they were driving at the intersection of Amesbury Line Road and Merrimack Road yesterday.
Bob Hain, 79, of West Newbury, said he and his wife, Barbara Hain, were on their way to Plaistow, N.H., around 11:15 a.m., to shop when the accident occurred.
Hain said he was driving his green Ford F-150 pickup truck north on Amesbury Line Road. He said as he began entering the intersection with Merrimack Road, a blue Chevy pickup truck with Maine license plates raced through the intersection and the two trucks collided.
"He must have been going 50 miles an hour and never stopped at the stop sign," Hain said. "He never even put on his brakes."
Police said it appeared that Hain had the right of way. The posted speed limit is 35 mph. Police said a male passenger in the truck with Maine plates was transported to Merrimack Valley Hospital and that his injuries were non life-threatening.
Hain said that moments after the accident he called his daughter and she soon arrived along with police and firefighters from Haverhill. Emergency workers encountered a scene strewn with groceries and articles of clothing that Hain said were thrown from the other vehicle.
"That guy was going so fast there was no way Bob could have avoided him," a shaken Barbara Hain said.
Bob Hain, who was a master gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, said this was the first time he's been in a traffic accident.
"I've never even been issued a speeding ticket," Bob Hain said. "My daughter would kill me."
Police said the accident is under investigation. The intersection of Amesbury Line Road and Merrimack Road is in the Rocks Village part of the city.
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