5 airlifted following Hwy 101 crash in South Monterey County
Several children were airlifted to a hospital following a car crash in South Monterey County.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the single-car crash happened in the southbound lanes of Highway 101 near the Camphora Gloria Road exit around 10:30 a.m. Monday.
The driver of an SUV collided with the highway center divider. Two adults and five children were inside the SUV at the time of the crash.
“A total of five air ambulance helicopters were dispatched to the scene to transport patients to nearby hospitals,” Cal Fire BEU said.
All five children in the car were airlifted to San Jose. CHP said there are no life-threatening injuries but the children were airlifted for precautionary reasons.
“If you have, say, a 30-year-old that needs trauma, we can handle that at Natividad, but if its a juvenile that needs trauma they airfreight them out regardless,” officer Jessica Madueno with CHP said.
The five children ranged from six months old to 11 years old. According to CHP, it was a family of seven in the SUV.
CHP said some of the children weren’t properly strapped in, a responsibility which could fall on the parents who were driving the car.
“A driver can be cited for any passenger not properly restrained,” Madueno said. “It’s not only the parent that’s ultimately responsible, but the driver of the vehicle if your passengers aren’t properly restrained.”
Just off Highway 101, a worker at a construction company saw there was an accident just out front.
“I saw the woman traumatized, and one man very upset,” witness Corbin Hill said. “You could see how his body language was.”
Another worker at San Benito Supply tells us he could feel their building shake when the crash happened.
The CHP doesn’t know what caused the car to veer off to the side, but they’re investigating whether speed was a contributing factor.
Officers said, based on the impact of the car hitting the center divide, the kids in the SUV are lucky the injuries weren’t more severe, since some weren’t properly fastened, something for which CHP said there’s no excuse.
“Every Tuesday we offer free car seat installation,” Madueno said. “You bring in the car seat and we’ll educate you how to properly install that car seat.”
The cause of the accident is under investigation by CHP.
