LAKEPORT ? A head-on collision on Highway 29 between its intersections with Highway 175 and Highland Springs Road claimed one life and injured four more just before 3:15 p.m. Thursday.
California Highway Patrol officers and responders from the Lakeport and Kelseyville fire stations worked for approximately an hour to extract the four injured people from a silver Toyota 4-Runner registered in Washington and a white Ford F-150 truck registered in Middletown. According to CHP Sgt. Dave Stark, the northbound Toyota driver was seen swerving into the southbound lane.
“The driver of the truck saw the SUV in the wrong lane and swerved left to avoid it. At that point, the SUV swerved back into his lane, and they both met in the northbound lane,” Stark said.
The woman who was driving the Ford got out of the vehicle on her own, but was put on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. Authorities took a child out of the truck, still sitting in her car seat. CHP officer Dallas Richey said at the scene that the child appeared to have minor injuries. A Kelseyville Fire ambulance took both to Sutter-Lakeside Hospital.
Richey confirmed that the Toyota”s front passenger died at the scene. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was partially ejected through the front windshield.
A female passenger in the back seat of the Toyota, also not wearing a seatbelt, landed with her upper body through the windshield. The Toyota”s driver and back seat passenger were flown by REACH helicopter to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Stark said the female passenger suffered severe injuries, and the driver suffered minor to moderate injuries.
“The silver SUV was the errant driver. It might be medically related. He stated that he was blacking out, but he doesn”t know why,” Richey said.
Traffic was blocked between Highway 175 and Highland Springs Road and re-routed to Soda Bay Road for approximately two-and-a-half hours.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
