Article brought to you by Davis Auto Body and Nancy Wallace, Attorney at Law
Article and photos by Malia Dietz
On Friday, May 3rd at 5:24 pm, mulitple calls went into emergency dispatchers reporting a head on collison on Highway 18. The location given was directly in front of the Mitsubishi Cement plant near Lucerne.
Units arriving on scene found one immediate female patient with major injuries and requested an airship to the scene. After extrication, the patient was flown to a nearby trauma center. The male driver was taken by ground ambulance.
The driver of the other vehicle, an off-duty US Forest Service employee was uninjured.
Statements made at scene indicated the driver of the black truck was trying to pass a motorhome. When he crossed over the double yellows, he reportedly then saw the white pickup truck but it was too late to avoid an accident. He attempted to go off to the shoulder when the white vehicle slammed on brakes and veered in the same direction resulting in a head on collison.
The California Highway Patrol was on scene investigating the incident. A Performance Tow arrived on scene to recover one of the vehicles while another tow truck was requested. The extent of the injuries are unknown at this time.
People drive too fast and they try to pass all the time. The other day there were five cars in front of us and a big truck and someone from the back speed up to pass as many cars as they can. this with knowing there were cars coming on the other side. But a speeding car came from the other way faster than they thought and they had to get back into the lane a couple of cars up. They need to make passing illegal. But I know that won’t stop some people. this is very dangerous for everyone.
People drive too fast and they try to pass all the time. The other day there were five cars in front of us and a big truck and someone from the back speed up to pass as many cars as they can. this with knowing there were cars coming on the other side. But a speeding car came from the other way faster than they thought and they had to get back into the lane a couple of cars up. They need to make passing illegal. But I know that won’t stop some people. this is very dangerous for everyone.
It is completely against the California law to cross a double yellow lines and drive on the wrong way on a two lane road..that’s a criminal offense..and that driver should be prosecuted