HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE — A Clearlake woman was killed Thursday in a vehicle collision involving a big rig on Highway 29 at Hartmann Road. Samira Sickels, 69, allegedly made an unsafe turn directly in front of the big rig.
According to California Highway Patrol (CHP) Clear Lake Area, at about 3:06 p.m. Sickels, who was driving a silver 2000 Ford Mustang, was stopped at the stop sign on Hartmann Road waiting to make a left turn onto southbound Highway 29.
For reasons still under investigation, she allegedly made an unsafe left turn directly in front of approaching northbound traffic. The Mustang was struck on the driver”s side by a 2008 Kenworth tractor combo driven by Anthony Zalunardo, 50, of Sacramento. Zalunardo was not injured in the collision. However, Sickels” passenger, identified as Emma Proctor, 75, of Clearlake, suffered injuries requiring aerial transport provided by REACH air ambulance.
CHP said at this early stage of the investigation, alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the collision. All parties involved were wearing seatbelts.
Lee Trotter-Hamilton and his wife Rose witnessed the collision, which they said happened directly in front of them. “It was all so unreal that it seemed like a movie playing out before us in very slow motion,” Trotter-Hamilton said.
Trotter-Hamilton said he and his wife were traveling westbound on Hartmann Road en route to a Girl Scout event when a convertible Mustang cut in front of them near Hardester”s Market. “When we reached the intersection of Highway 29 and Hartmann, the driver of the Mustang pulled out unusually slow, making a left hand turn onto Highway 29 directly in front of a semi-truck that was traveling northbound toward Clearlake.”
Trotter-Hamilton said the truck struck the convertible on the driver”s side door. “The bumper of the truck hooked the driver”s side and then spun to where it was parallel with the truck,” he said. “A few moments later, the two vehicles broke loose of one another and the convertible did a 180 into the northbound guardrail while the truck jack-knifed and slid sideways into the dirt on the southbound side of Highway 29.”
Trotter-Hamilton expressed concern about the intersection. “This intersection has claimed several lives as well as left others severely injured. I know one person who was injured in a prior crash last month, personally,” he said. “The county needs to install a permanent stop light at Highway 29 and Hartmann. This would stop drivers from trying to make a left onto Hartmann, or a left/right onto Highway 29 in front of oncoming traffic that is traveling much faster than their vehicles” ability to accelerate.”
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call directly at 994-6444, ext. 14.
