A GMC Jimmy was outbound on Brighton Avenue Thursday morning with a load of scrap sheet metal when the load shifted near Capisic Street, causing the driver to veer into oncoming traffic at about 7:30 a.m., police said.

The SUV collided with an oncoming car and the collision wrenched free the metal fastened to the roof rack, causing it to crash down onto the windshield and hood of the GMC. Pieces of metal that had been inside the vehicle smashed through the windshield and were protruding about two feet, police said.

The driver of the GMC, Timothy Hansen, 31, of Portland, was not injured.

The driver of the other car, Jean Plummer, 43, of Lewiston, was transported to Maine Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Two other crashes happened at roughly the same time and location, compounding traffic problems caused by the first crash.

A tractor-trailer was making a wide right-hand turn from Rand Road onto Brighton Avenue when it hit a compact car beside it, police said. Nobody was injured.

A third crash happened at 8 a.m. when a woman looking at the spectacle of the first crash stopped her car short and the car behind her crashed into it. Nobody was injured.

David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:dhench@mainetoday.comTwitter: @Mainehenchman