A woman driving a Subaru BRZ was killed Thursday afternoon when her car collided with a Dodge Ram pickup and a Toyota RAV4 on Highway 50 near the Lake Tahoe Golf Course, with California Highway Patrol reporting that two other drivers were also injured in the crash. The collision was reported shortly after 1:10 p.m. on the stretch of highway between Arapahoe Street and Meadow Vale Drive, in the mountain community of Meyers.
According to the Sacramento Bee, the Subaru BRZ driver died at the scene, and her identity had not been released as of the paper's report. The two other drivers involved were taken to a hospital, one with moderate injuries and the other with minor injuries, per the same account. CHP has not yet determined the cause of the collision, which remains under investigation, and the station's report notes that drugs and alcohol are not currently suspected as factors.
That stretch of Highway 50 runs directly past the Lake Tahoe Golf Course along the Upper Truckee River valley, a narrow corridor that cuts through the heart of Meyers in unincorporated El Dorado County, according to property records describing the area. It's a road locals know well and one with a troubled history of serious wrecks.
A Highway With a History of Deadly Crashes
Ruth Loehr, the spokesperson for CHP's South Lake Tahoe office cited in reporting on the crash, is an 18-year veteran of the agency and one of four female officers assigned to the local station as of 2024, according to South Tahoe Now. The CHP's South Lake Tahoe Area office holds primary jurisdiction over Highway 50 through eastern El Dorado County, patrolling a corridor where the local population of roughly 20,000 residents can swell past 100,000 during peak holiday and tourist periods.
This isn't the first fatal crash to strike this exact stretch of road. In July 2019, a multi-vehicle crash involving a fuel-tanker explosion shut down Highway 50 near Elks Club Drive and the Lake Tahoe Golf Course; afterward, the bridge deck, asphalt and guardrail needed evaluation and repair, as reported by ABC10.
State Safety Fixes Have Targeted the Corridor Before
Caltrans District 3 has already tried to address the danger along this part of Highway 50. In November 2019, the agency completed El Dorado County's first highway roundabout at the Highway 50 and State Route 89 interchange in Meyers, a $7.3 million project launched after 21 collisions were recorded at that nearby intersection over a five-year span.
An August high-speed pursuit began near Echo Summit and ended on Portal Drive when a Mercedes crashed into and became wrapped around a boulder, injuring three people, as Hoodline previously reported.
Investigation Continues
For complex fatal multi-vehicle collisions like Thursday's, CHP typically deploys specialized Valley Division Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Teams trained in collision reconstruction, physics, and occupant kinematics to determine vehicle speeds and impact trajectories. Under California Vehicle Code protocols, preliminary field observations can rule out obvious signs of impairment, but formal confirmation of drug or alcohol involvement in fatal collisions depends on laboratory blood toxicology screens that often take weeks to complete.
The identity of the Subaru BRZ driver had not been released as the investigation continued.
