At 9:19 pm, a call went in to the California Highway Patrol reporting a solo vehicle accident. The location given was southbound highway 18 at mile marker 12, below Upper Waterman. Witnesses reported seeing the high speed collision with the guard rail that catapulted the car up on to the hill side.
One witness at the scene reported that the driver fled and was picked up by another vehicle further down the highway but this is unconfirmed. CHP was onscene for a short time but after determining that this area was in the jurisdiction of the San Bernardino Police, the unit left the scene. Brush Engine 25 was also onscene with Medic Ambulance 25 but also left when it was determined that there were no victims at the scene to treat.
Scott Markovich, a Cedarpines Park resident, was traveling up highway 18 at the time of the accident. “I’m driving up highway 18 tonight around 9:15”, Scott relates, “and just before upper Waterman Canyon a driver loses control coming down highway 18 and is headed right at me. The vehicle hits the center guard rail so hard that the vehicle boomerangs across the down hill lanes and up the bank.”
Scott is emphatic that the guardrail prevented a head on collision and states that “the center guard rail is saving lives, including my own”.
The car remained in the bushes with the blinkers, interior lights and ignition on for an undetermined length of time through the night. The San Bernardino Police Public Information Officer remains unreachable regarding this incident.
It is unknown if the driver was injured, unknown if alcohol was a factor and the cause of the accident is unknown.