SAN BERNARDINO: Driver survives roll-over crash that crushes car (UPDATE 2)
SAN BERNARDINO: Driver survives roll-over crash that crushes car (UPDATE 2)
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A motorist survived a roll-over wreck that crushed the roof of his car and triggered a Sigalart along a San Bernardino freeway.
The crash was reported at 10:46 a.m. Thursday, July 9, on the Orange Show off ramp from the southbound lanes of I-215.
The driver suffered head injuries and appeared confused, city fire officials said. The man appeared to be in his 20s. � He was sent to a hospital for examination and treatment.
The car landed upside down, crushing the middle of the roof onto the seats, fire officials said. The driver was pulled out of the car through the back window.
He insisted that his girlfriend was still inside the wreckage. But firefighters removed the doors to check the interior — and used airbags to lift the car off the ground to check underneath — and found no sign of any other victims.
A helicopter crew search the surrounding area for any passengers who might have been ejected, but found no one, according to the California Highway Patrol website.
A SigAlert was issued at 11:05 a.m. for the two right lanes.�
The driver’s identity was not available.
But another motorist said the accident happened after the driver lost control when he darted across two traffic lanes onto the off-ramp.
“The car flipped about three times and slammed into a (K-rail) wall,” said 21-year-old Andrew Simentel of San Bernardino. “It started smoking.”
Simentel described the car as a white Ford Focus and said the driver suffered a large gash high on his forehead.
Simentel said he and two other motorists pulled the victim out of the car before firefighters arrived.
“He was real disoriented,” Simentel recalled. “He was saying his girlfriend was still in the car…but there was nobody else in the car.”
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