Crash Rips Car Apart, Woman Killed
A woman was killed when her car veered off into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on with two semi-trucks, the front part of her car was ripped off in the crash which happened Thursday afternoon at Boron Highway 58 near Bakersfield, California. Highway authorities closed miles of the highway while they cleared and investigated the accident. Those hurt in the area are encouraged to contact a Bakersfield injury lawyerafter first calling emergency services for help.
Mountains west of Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
At about 3:00 p.m. a 47-year-old woman was driving a Honda sedan heading westbound on Hwy 58 with her 60-year-old husband when for an unknown reason she drifted onto the north side of the roadway creating a cloud of dirt on the shoulder. After traveling a few hundred feet on the dirt shoulder the path of the vehicle returning onto the roadway. The driver overcorrect the direction of the vehicle, then it “entered the eastbound lanes” according to California Highway Police Sargent William Eklund, crossing over the painted double yellow lines where there is no physical center divider or barrier.
Unable to correct her direction at high highway speeds in time, she crashed head on with a small crane semi-truck pushing in the large driver’s side wheel and tearing through the fuel tank of the semi. She died on impact but the car was split in two and within milliseconds a Pepsi transportation truck delivered the second blow crushing the driver’s side of the sedan. Her husband was tossed like a ragdoll affixed to the seat, his head and limbs hit the airbag, causing various injuries.
Emergency services airlifted the man to Antelope Valley Hospital where he will be treated for major injuries.
Contents of their Honda were spilled throughout the road, including a Las Vegas bag which may indicate the couple was heading home from the city. The front axle with the engine and two wheels lay on the center divider and somewhere along the road laid the crushed hood. The second section of the vehicle laid crushed onto the road and the front doors were removed to extricate its victims.
Parked on the shoulder, the semi carrying the small crane was in front of the Pepsi delivery truck with a trail of dark liquids leading to it. A hazmat team was scheduled to remove the spilled fuel and automobile liquids off the road before the road was to be reopened.
Eklund advices that because “there’s nothing to stop you from traveling in the opposite side of the roadway,” drivers need to share the road and keep from being distracted with anything, including texting or making phone calls, at those speeds, the results could be tragic. People can get hurt and may have to contact an injury lawyer who can help them navigate the confusing path of an accident.
Investigators re-opened the Mojave Desert Highway after clearing the scene and gathering pertinent information. Both trucks were damaged below the drivers seating area, therefore preventing them from incurring serious injury.
English: Taken just south of Highway 95 in the Mojave Desert. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Reviewed by Chris H. in 2012.