LAS CRUCES - Police remain certain that a Picacho Hills teen was trying to kill herself when she swerved into oncoming traffic Wednesday morning on Interstate 10, but the driver who was first on the scene says the girl told him a different story.

Brittany Alexandra Smith, 18, crossed the center median in between Motel Boulevard and Avenida de Mesilla at around 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, crashing her gray Honda sedan into the left axle of a westbound Freightliner tractor-trailer. Its driver, Pablo A. Guillen, of Tijuana, Mexico, took evasive action and was able to avoid a head-on collision and injuries beyond a few scrapes to his hand, according to State Police officer Raul Martinez.

New Mexico State Police say Smith admitted she was trying to kill herself and had left a suicide note, written to her parents, at their home before she left Wednesday morning.

But Duke Ludwig, 37, who was driving behind the Freightliner, swerved out of the way of the accident and rushed to aid the girl, said Smith told him she "lost control of the car and couldn't bring it back."

"She was coherent, but going in and out of consciousness," said Ludwig, who owns The Tattoo Company in Las Cruces. "She just said she was feeling really bad and tried to commit suicide before, but not that day."

A former Marine who fought in the Gulf War, Ludwig said he pried the door off Smith's crushed Honda with a crowbar but was unable to get Smith - protected by her seat belt and her car's air bags - out of the

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car.

Her left leg was sliced and she told emergency responders she couldn't move her toes.

"Everything was crushed down into her legs and chest," Ludwig said, raising the possibility that Smith might bleed out if he extricated her. "I couldn't find a way to get her out ... I talked to her, held her hand the whole time. She was in a lot of pain."

When Ludwig saw that criminal charges were possible, he had to speak out.

"She was fighting for her life," he said. "I'm glad that she's alive. That, in itself, is enough to give me a little bit better of a day. I saw the grim reaper (Wednesday), I really did."

But officer Martinez, who was on the scene, insists Smith's near-head on collision with Guillen "was an intentional act."

"By her own statement, her boyfriend broke up with her and she wanted to kill herself," Martinez said.

Guillen, who was delivering a half-full trailer of Home Depot furnishings from San Diego, told police he thought Smith might have fallen asleep when he saw the Honda coming at him. He veered left, causing Smith to clip his slider axle, which ripped from the cab. Smith's car spun out.

"It was a light load and ... just everything giving way helped (lessen the impact of) the crash," Martinez said. Indeed, Guillen walked away from the crash with a few scratches on his right wrist - and he's probably "stiff as a door," Martinez said. "(Guillen) did not want a head-on collision. If that would have happened, yes, it's safe to say (Smith) would have died at the scene, an instant death."

While highway suicides aren't too common, Martinez said Smith's statements, plus the note she left at home, don't leave much to question.

"There's no guy, no girl worth killing yourself over," he said. "That's a given thing. And you hear about (romantically motivated suicides) all the time. It's just crazy. Somebody wanting to do that, for the sake of one person - who doesn't care about you. Why should you take your life? It's common sense, but if you're not thinking straight, you don't have common sense."

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5400.

Suicide hotline

•If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call (800) 273-TALK (800) 273-8255). Help is available.