A woman was critically injured and had to be cut from her vehicle after a two-vehicle crash just before 5 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Ranchero Road and Cataba Road in Oak Hills, near Oak Hills High School. A second person suffered a possible broken leg in the wreck, which left both vehicles with heavy damage.
According to VVNG, California Highway Patrol logs show a silver 2019 Buick Encore rear-ended a 2023 Hyundai Palisade that was stopped at a red light. The Buick sustained major front-end damage, while the Hyundai suffered major rear-end damage, the outlet reported.
San Bernardino County Fire Department firefighters who responded to the scene requested a medical helicopter for the critically injured female passenger riding in the Buick, per the same account. Crews extricated the woman from the vehicle before a REACH helicopter landed on Cataba Road and flew her to Loma Linda University Medical Center for treatment, the station's report notes.
Second Victim Taken by Ambulance
Another occupant of the Hyundai Palisade was also hurt in the collision and was reported to have a possible broken leg, the outlet reported. An ambulance was requested to transport that person to a hospital, according to the report.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the California Highway Patrol's Victorville station, the article notes. No further details on what led up to the collision have been released.
Not the First Serious Crash on This Stretch
Sunday's wreck is not the first time a serious collision has drawn a medical helicopter to the Ranchero Road corridor. In January 2022, a multi-vehicle crash near Kourie Way left at least one person critically injured, and firefighters again reported that extrication was required, according to a separate VVNG report. In that incident, a helicopter landed at Oak Hills High School and flew one of the injured to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, while California Highway Patrol officers handled the investigation.
Ranchero Road is a major east-west corridor that carries more than 15,000 motorists daily, according to the City of Hesperia, which has an ongoing widening project described as the third phase of an effort to improve the route. Separately, a funding proposal reviewed by the office of Rep. Jay Obernolte describes plans to realign Cataba Road and add new traffic signals at its junction with Ranchero Road in unincorporated Hesperia, intended to improve safety for drivers and pedestrians, according to documents from Rep. Obernolte's office. It is not clear from available records whether that proposal has been funded, scheduled, or completed.
Caltrans maintains a statewide Strategic Highway Safety Plan that uses crash data to help identify where safety investments are most needed, according to the California Department of Transportation. No details about the condition of either victim from Sunday's crash have been released, and the circumstances that led to the collision remain under review.
