By Scott Limpus
February 16, 2019
At 11:27 am on Saturday, emergency crews were dispatched to a head-on traffic collision with possible injuries on Falling Leaf Drive in Green Valley Lake. The California Highway Patrol (CHP), Running Springs Fire Department (RSFD), and San Bernardino County Fire Department (SBCoFD) responded to the scene and found 2 vehicles with minor to moderate damage, on a steep, narrow, and windy road. One person was reporting minor injuries.
According to statements made by the two drivers, Vehicle #1, a grey Nissan Murano, was traveling downbound on Falling Leaf Drive following the directors of her GPS. The driver was visiting from out of town and was driving a rental car without chains on. She was attempting to meet friends in Big Bear, but due to the road closure on Highway 18, her GPS told her to drive up Green Valley Lake Road. As she neared the end of the road, her GPS re-routed her onto Falling Leaf Drive.
Vehicle #2, a silver Honda Accord driven by an off-duty firefighter, had just left his house and was traveling upbound on Falling Leaf Drive. Vehicle #1 slid into Vehicle #2 head-on causing Vehicle #2’s airbags to deploy. The driver of Vehicle #2 was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. The driver of Vehicle #1 declined medical treatment as was able to driver her rental car away. Family members were able to drive Vehicle #2 back to their house to wait for the tow truck.
At the time of the accident, there was snow and ice on the roads. CHP is investigating the cause of the accident, but speed and road conditions are likely to be contributing factors.
Editors Note to Readers:
During the Valentine’s Day Storm, the roadway from Green Valley Lake was washed out. Please share the following article with your friends and family that might be trying to access Big Bear.
Green Valley Lake Closure Information
GPS apps have been repeatedly taking lost drivers through Green Valley Lake, a very small community with narrow streets, some currently plowed in a manner that is only one car width wide. This small community has been inundated with lost drivers, many of which have no chains. This is causing traffic jams in a community with no access to the Big Bear Valley.
Please ensure your guests are informed.
This is why NOBODY should try to go to a place they aren’t familiar with following directions from a GPS system. We had one take us off on a logging road, but fortunately it was clear and the GPS eventually got us where we wanted to be. (This was in Germany BTW) When weather conditions are difficult visitors should always, always, always do their homework and know before they travel what the road conditions are and what requirements they must meet – like carrying chains.
I’m a resident I’ve Big Bear and I have an Airbnb rental for the last 2 weeks everyone who has rented has told me that their GPS has brought them through private roads and dirt roads it seems to be a problem I don’t know if GPS gets notified of road closures but it seems to be an increasing problem and now it seems dangerous
It’s idiots like these that cause garm to locals and now one of our own firefighters is injured and the team is now short of one member when needing to respond to emergency calls.