SIDNEY — A crash between a car and a tractor-trailer truck on Interstate 95 that sent three people to the hospital touched off two other car accidents as drivers gawked at the wreckage Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Maine State Police Trooper William Plourde said three women, one of whom was pregnant, were taken to Inland Hospital in Waterville with complaints of leg and shoulder pain. None of the injuries was believed to be life threatening, he said.

Rescuers had to cut the roof off the car to free two of the passengers, Plourde said.

The women were all riding in a 2007 Chevy Impala driven by Betty Wing, 65, of Oakland. She was not hurt in the crash, Plourde said.

David Harvey, 63, of Litchfield, the driver of the 1993 Mack tractor-trailer that was loaded with wood chips, was not injured.

The crash happened shortly after 2 p.m. in the northbound lane of I-95 near mile marker 116. Wing’s car was passing Harvey’s truck in the left lane when her car drifted too far left and hit the rumble strip, Plourde said. Wing then swung the car back the other way, and the front passenger corner of Wing’s Impala hit the left front of the tractor-trailer right in front of the wheel, Plourde said.

The Impala ricocheted off the truck and skidded into the median, where it rolled over onto the passenger side.

One of the passengers was not wearing a seat belt. No charges were filed, Plourde said.

The Mack truck, owned by Marshal Bark of Chelsea, sustained about $1,000 in damage, Plourde said. The truck was fixed on site and driven away.

The section of highway was reduced to one lane of moving traffic as emergency crews helped the injured and removed the vehicles. Plourde said there were two accidents during that response caused by drivers who slowed — and in a couple cases even stopped — to get a better view of the accident scene.

Neither of the those accidents caused injuries, Plourde said. He encouraged drivers to concentrate on their driving when approaching an accident.

“People weren’t paying attention to the road,” Plourde said. “They were looking at the accident.”

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com