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Four people were killed and seven others injured in a head-on crash on I-5 in Elk Grove. (Photo: Sacramento Bee)

Fatal car accident: Four people were killed Sunday afternoon when an SUV crossed the median strip on Interstate 5 and crashed into two oncoming vehicles near Hood-Franklin Road in Elk Grove.

•   An SUV driver lost control on the freeway and crossed over the center median into oncoming traffic.

•   The SUV crashed head-on into two other vehicles. The SUV and one of he other vehicles rolled several times, ejecting passengers.

•   Four people died at the scene, including the SUV driver and the driver of one of the vehicles he hit.

•   Seven people were injured, some of them critically. At least one was airlifted to a trauma center.

The deadly freeway crash occurred at around 3:30 p.m., 15 miles south of Sacramento, according to a report in the Sacramento Bee.

California Highway Patrol Officer Michael Bradley said a 2004 Ford Expedition with nine people inside was traveling southbound on the freeway when the driver apparently lost control for unknown reasons.

The SUV crossed over the median strip and crashed into two northbound vehicles — a  2012 Honda Accord and a 1997 Toyota Rav4 that was towing a boat. Bradley said authorities did not yet know what happened to cause the driver to lose control.

“We don’t have a cause to release as yet,” Bradley told the Bee. “Initially, we are investigating an unsafe turning movement that caused the car to leave the roadway.”

The Expedition and the Accord both rolled over multiple times. Some passengers were ejected from both cars,while others were pinned in their vehicles.

The driver of the Expedition — tentatively identified as a Berkeley man in his 50s — died at the scene. Two of his passengers also died. The Sacramento County Coroner’s office identified them as 50-year-old Kulwant Kaur Gill of Lathrop (San Joaquin County) and a 70-year-old woman from Berkeley. Both of them had to be extricated from the vehicle, according to a CBS Channel 13 News report

The Accord driver died at the scene. His identifying information was not released as of Monday afternoon.

Seven other people were injured, three of them critically. Their injuries ranged from broken wrists and ribs to major injuries, according to the Bee report. A passenger is the Accord suffered major injuries, as did one of the passengers int eh Expedition.

The six other injury victims were passengers in the Expedition — a woman in her 40s and a 17-year-old boy, both from Lathrop, plus three women ages 18, 19 and 23 from Berkeley, and a 20-year-old man from Berkeley.

“We are going to be conducting an investigation on the Expedition to determine if there was a mechanical problem that caused it to leave the roadway,” Bradley told the Bee.

The CBS News report said tire tread was missing from the Expedition, which could be indicative of tire failure being a possible cause.

Elk Grove Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A 64-year-old man was killed Monday when a speeding driver crashed head-on into his Volkswagen Beetle on Highway 46 near Bakersfield. (Photo: KBAK News)

A Tehachapi man was killed in a head-on car accident Monday when a speeding driver crashed into his Volkswagen Beetle on Highway 46 in rural Kern County, about 50 miles from Bakersfield.

•     A Volvo was speeding through a construction zone and tried to pass two cars and a big-rig on a two-lane highway.

•     The driver did not see an oncoming Volkswagen Beetle convertible until it was too late. The two vehicles crashed head-on.

•     The Volkswagen driver died on impact. The Volvo driver was airlifted to a hospital with major injuries.

The fatal highway crash occurred at 11:10 a.m., according to a KERO News report.

California Highway Patrol officers said that 37-year-old Laura Hayden of Monterey was driving a silver 2007 Volvo S60 eastbound on State Route-46 at the time of the accident.

Hayden was speeding when she crossed into the westbound lane in an attempt to pass two passenger vehicles and a big-rig just west of Bitterwater Valley Road, CHP officer Jerry Knight told the Bakersfield Californian. The speed limit is 45 mph in that area because it is a construction zone, Knight said.

Hayden was still in the westbound lane when she approached an oncoming 2003 Volkswagen Beetle convertible driven by 64-year-old David Hubbard of Tehachapi. Both vehicles swerved to try to avoid a collision, but they both veered over to the north shoulder of the roadway, where they crashed head-on.

Hubbard died on impact, according to a KBAK Eyewitness News report. Hayden sustained major injuries and was airlifted by helicopter to Kern Medical Center.

The two-lane rural highway is known locally as “Blood Alley” because there are so many accidents on it. The construction area is part of a renovation project to widen the highway to four lanes — two in each direction — Knight said.

Bakersfield Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

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Heavy winds led to a fatal head-on collision on Highway 18 near Crestline.

A 42-year-old woman was killed in a head-on car accident Saturday, when an SUV crossed the center line in high winds and crashed into her car on Highway 18 near Crestline.

•   Three local residents were involved in a fatal accident on Highway 18.

•   An SUV crossed the center line on the mountain road and crashed into a Honda Civic, which then hit a bus.

•   The driver of the Honda died. The SUV driver and a passenger were hospitalized.

•   Police said high winds were a factor in the accident. Toxicology reports were being run to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved. No arrests were made.

The fatal accident occurred at 5:47 p.m., according to a report in the Crestline Courier-News.

San Bernardino Police Detective Vicki Cervantes said Crestline resident Holly Foor was driving a 2005 Honda Civic northbound on Highway 18, between upper and lower Waterman Canyon Road. Winds were very high at the time.

Cervantes said 26-year-old  Larry F. Evans, also a Crestline resident, was driving a white 1997 Ford Exporer southbound when his vehicle crossed the double yellow line in the center of the highway for unknown reasons. The Explorer crashed head-on into the left-front of Foor’s Honda.

The impact sent the Honda careening out of control. It slammed into the side of a San Diego Community Bible Church bus headed for a weekend at Thousand Pines camp, Cervantes said. None of the middle-school children on the bus were hurt.

Foor was trapped in her vehicle. San Bernardino City Fire Department paramedics extricated her from the vehicle and rushed her to St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino. She died an hour later.

Evans and his 18-year-old passenger — Samantha Barkeley, also of Crestline — both were injured but the nature and severity of those injuries was not released. Both were hospitalized. Evans was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center, while Barkeley was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.

San Bernardino Police Detective Kevin Jeffrey said toxicology tests were run to determine whether Evans was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident.  He had not been arrested as of Tuesday, however.

Cervantes said high winds were likely a major factor in the accident. She said winds were so heavy that investigators’ surveying equipment was repeatedly blown over.

“One of my motors (motorcycle officers) said he thought his motorcycle was going to blow over,” Cervantes said.

A local resident who was riding his motorcycle up Highway 18 moments before the crash said he had to fight gusts as high as 60 mph. He witnessed the accident and warned mountain drivers to be especially careful “during seasons when many people who are more unfamiliar with the roads and conditions” are driving on the rural highway.

“If I had been 200 yards slower,” he said, “it could have been me.”

Crestline Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A Volvo driver was killed in a head-on collision with a pickup truck in San Jacinto. (Photo: Press-Enterprise) Click photo to see full size.

A 31-year-old man was killed in a head-on collision Tuesday morning when he failed to navigate a curve in front of a Scientology compound in San Jacinto.

•   A Volvo driver missed a curve, veered across a double-yellow line into oncoming traffic, and slammed head-on into a Chevy pickup truck.

•   The pickup truck driver was hospitalized with moderate injuries. The Volvo driver died at the scene.

•   Surveillance cameras at a Scientology compound caught the entire accident on videotape.

The fatal accident occurred at about 6:30 a.m., according to a report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

California Highway Patrol officers said Oscar Avila of Moreno Valley was driving a red 1996 Volvo westbound on Gilman Springs Road at the time of the crash.

Avila failed to negotiate a curve outside the Scientology compound, Golden Era Productions, and crossed over the double yellow lines into the eastbound lane.

An eastbound 2006 Chevrolet pickup truck swerved to try to avoid hitting the Volvo and barely sideswiped it. But the Volvo continued driving toward oncoming traffic and slammed head-on into an eastbound 1991 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by 41-year-old James Beach of Garner Valley.

Beach sustained moderate injuries and was hospitalized. The nature and extent of his injuries was not released.

Avila, who was driving the Volvo, died at the scene. He was pinned inside of his car. The Volvo was so mangled that firefighter rescue workers had to cut off the roof and then use a cutter and spreader to dismantle the vehicle in order to get Avila’s body out.

The CHP said all three drivers were wearing seat belts. Investigators have not ruled out alcohol or drugs as possible factors in the crash.

The Scientology compound has surveillance cameras that monitor the road — they caught the entire accident on videotape. Investigators are reviewing the tape to determine what happened.

San Jacinto Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126