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LAKE COUNTY ? A 2-year-old girl buckled into her car seat ricocheted inside a vehicle that rolled over twice about noon Friday on Highway 20 near the Colusa County line, California Highway Patrol reported.

An ambulance took the girl to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake with a cut to her head, Officer Efrain Cortez of CHP said. Cortez said he thinks the girl will be fine but didn”t have an update.

Susan Lavandero of Yankee Hill was driving east on the highway with her daughter and a friend, Kris Mackusizk of Chico, when she lost control on a curve, Cortez said.

“Due to her high rate of speed she lost control of the vehicle,” Cortez said.

CHP estimates she was driving between 50 mph and 60 mph around the curve that would have been safe about 35 mph due to the misty rain, Cortez said.

The car hit a traffic sign, went over a 60- to 80-foot embankment, rolled twice, stopped at a creek bed and landed its left side, Cortez said. .

“Luckily nobody was ejected,” Cortez said.

Cortez thinks the girl may have been strapped into her car seat, but that it wasn”t properly anchored to the seat, he said.

CHP is still investigating the crash, he said.

Lavandero complained of neck and back pain and was taken by ambulance to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake. A friend picked up Mackusizk

CHP had called for air ambulance, but a helicopter couldn”t fly in because of the weather, Cortez said.

“The misty rain is one of the most dangerous times because it doesn”t wash all the oil off,” Cortez said.

Cortez recommends drivers slow down and drive according to road conditions, he said. He also said people should check child seats every time they get in their cars because toddlers move around and try to escape.

Drivers can come to CHP offices and have an officer check that car seats are properly set up, Cortez said.

“The collision was violent,” Cortez said. “They”re all lucky it wasn”t a steeper embankment and they didn”t crash head on into another vehicle.”

Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.

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