Tehachapi News

Spike in SR 202 collisions worries CHP

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A series of major wrecks on Highway 202 over the past three months has the highway patrol in Mojave looking for ways to improve the safety of the road.

Two men, 75 and 89, were killed in separate accidents on 202 from Sept. 12 to Dec. 29 -- the same the number who died wrecks there in the past three years. Seven others were seriously injured in four accidents on the same road during that time.

CHP spokesman Officer Ed Smith said a Mojave CHP staff meeting with supervisors is planned for next week to discuss ways to allocate more enforcement resources to 202.

They will also formulate an education plan involving largers employers in the community, their employees and their families.

The education effort will expand to families, he said.

Smith said that the recent accidents on 202 have no common denominator. The times of the day, circumstances and locations were different, he said, and weather and road conditions were not a factor. Two of the collisions were head-on.

As reported by the CHP and Kern County Fire Department, the collisions were:

• Dec. 29, 7:35 p.m. –– Shawn Hayes, 40, and Sabrina Walker, 18, collided head-on west of Tameron Road, about three miles east of the prison. Hayes, of Bear Valley Springs, suffered major injuries. Walker suffered minor injuries.

Walker steered her car to the left, entering westbound 202, where she hit Hayes, according to Smith.

As of Friday, Hayes remained hospitalized in Bakersfield following extensive surgery.

Both drivers were wearing seatbelts and alcohol was not involved, Smith said.

• Dec. 23, 2008, 1:45 p.m. - Marian McMurray, 83, traveling west near Schout Road, drifted into the eastbound lane, colliding with David Weston, 67, of Mira Loma.

McMurray's passenger, her husband Gilbert McMurray, 89, died as a result of the collision and Weston's passenger, his son Michael, 41, was badly injured. Just a few minutes before the accident, the elder Weston had picked up his newly-released son at the gate of the prison. All occupants were wearing their seat belts and alcohol was not a factor, according to Smith.

• Oct. 14, 2008, 8:21 a.m. -- At a private road about three-quarters of a mile east of the prison gate, Kelly McDaniel, driving a 2004 Mercedes with her son and daughter on board, made a left turn onto 202. She collided with a 1992 Mazda pickup driven by G. Van Ross, 57. McDaniel and her son Finnigan, 5, suffered major injuries. Her daughter, 3, was safe in her car seat. A benefit held recently at McDaniel’s Spit Creek Ranch assisted with her recovery. Van Ross's injuries were minor. All parties wore seatbelts and the airbags deployed, authorities said.

• Sept. 12, 2008, 11:25 a.m. - Motorcyclist Robert Cray, 75, was waiting in the westbound lane to turn left onto Old Cummings Valley Road when westbound R. Gomez Rodriguez, 43, of Bakersfield, struck him from behind. Cray died in the helicopter on the way to the hospital. Rodriguez and his passenger suffered minor injuries. Both wore seat belts, and alcohol was not a factor, Smith said.

Smith reported that for 202, there were an average of 23 collisions per year between 2005 and 2007; in 2008 there were 27 wrecks.

From 2005-2007, one wreck killed two people. In 2008, two collisions killed two people –– both wrecks occurred after Sept. 12.

The highway produced an average of 19 injured people per year between 2005 and 2007; in 2008, the number was 21.

Driving Under the Influence was the cause of an average of two collisions per year. In 2008, DUI was the cause of three collisions.