A red Ford Focus ran a stop sign and slammed into a Lexus SUV at the intersection of Lincoln and Marks avenues in Fresno County on Saturday afternoon, sending both vehicles rolling into a nearby dirt field and hospitalizing all four people involved. The California Highway Patrol says the Ford driver failed to stop before colliding with the eastbound Lexus, according to facts supplied by KMPH Fox 26.
The crash happened just east of the community of Easton, and officers received a call about it just after 3:30 p.m. Saturday, according to ABC30. The Ford Focus had been traveling northbound on Marks Avenue toward the intersection before the impact sent it into a wooden PG&E utility pole, which was struck but left standing, the station reported. Both the Ford and the Lexus overturned and came to rest in a dirt field nearby, per the KMPH account.
Four Taken to Community Regional With Varying Injuries
Two adults from the Ford Focus were taken to Community Regional Medical Center with moderate injuries, while two adults from the Lexus were transported with injuries ranging from moderate to major, per the supplied KMPH facts. ABC30 similarly reported that all four people involved were taken to Community Regional Medical Center with moderate to major injuries. All four occupants were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, according to the same KMPH account.
Early reports from the scene suggested people had been thrown from the vehicles and that a car had exploded, but officers determined neither was true, the station's report notes. The intersection of Marks and Lincoln remained closed afterward and was expected to reopen within an hour, ABC30 reported.
Cause Still Under Investigation
The cause of the crash remains undetermined and is still under investigation, according to the same KMPH account. Alcohol and drugs were not suspected to have contributed to the crash.
This is not the only serious crash to hit the Easton-area road network in recent weeks. On Oct. 5, five people were taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle crash at Lincoln and Fruit avenues, a few miles from Saturday's scene, though no major injuries were reported that time, according to The Fresno Bee. In that earlier incident, CHP said one vehicle ran a stop sign in an unknown direction and struck the other, and the driver who ran the stop sign had to be extricated after becoming partially pinned inside the car. CHP said it was continuing to investigate that crash as well.
