3 seniors hospitalized with major injuries after SLO County car crash
Three seniors were hospitalized with major injuries after a car crash on Highway 101 north of Paso Robles on Sunday night, with one passenger not wearing a seatbelt.
At around 6:20 p.m., California Highway Patrol officers received a report of a crash with an ambulance responding on southbound Highway 101 at Exline Road, between Paso Robles and San Miguel, the CHP said in a news release.
Exline Road is just south of Wellsona Road, the deadly intersection near the San Paso Truck Stop where a highway undercrossing is now under construction.
Officers determined that a 55-year-old male was driving a Mercedes Sprinter van north on Highway 101 approaching the Exline Road intersection as a second car — a Lincoln Town Car driven by an 81-year-old man with two female senior passengers — was driving south toward the crossroad, the news release said.
The Sprinter van pulled into the left turn lane on Exline Road and proceeded to turn left directly into the path of the oncoming Town Car, which was driving at approximately 65 mph, the release said.
The driver of the Town Car attempted to swerve right but was unable to avoid crashing into the Sprinter van, the release said. The front of the Town Car T-boned the right side of the Sprinter van.
The Sprinter van came to rest facing west on the west shoulder of southbound Highway 101 while the Town Car ended up on its wheels in the road near the intersection of Stockdale and Exline roads.
The driver of the Lincoln and two senior adult female passengers were transported to Adventist Health Sierra Vista hospital in San Luis Obispo with major injuries, the release said. One of the female passengers who was sitting in the backseat was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown into the driver’s front seat during impact.
Alcohol and/or drugs were not believed to be a factor in this crash, which is pending further investigation by the CHP, the release said.
