AIRBORNE DRIVER LANDS IN RIVER BED IN SANTEE, SUSTAINS SERIOUS INJURIES

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  File photo, Mission Gorge Road along San Diego River bed in vicinity of where the crash occurred.

June 16, 2017 (Santee) – A driver suspected of being under the influence of alcohol has sustained serious injuries in a freak accident at 2:45 a.m.   The woman, 28, drove her Toyota Yaris sedan north on State Route 125 and went straight through a T-intersection at Mission Gorge Road, becoming airborne.

“The vehicle came to rest in the riverbed about 75 feet north of the intersection,” said Sergeant Mike McNeill, adding that the driver sustained serious injuries.

She has been taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital for treatment and the investigation is ongoing.

The intersection is the same place where CHP officer Mark Saylor and three of his family members died in 2009 after their vehicle’s accelerator pedal became stuck, sending it airborne through the barricade and into the riverbed, where it burst into flames. That crash led to a recall of millions of Toyota and Lexus vehicles.