Two women killed in separate crashes in Merced County

On Sunday, two women were killed in car crashes in Merced County, California Highway Patrol officers reported. One accident occurred in the early morning and the other in the afternoon.

A 31-year-old woman from Dos Palos died at the scene of a solo vehicle crash on Highway 59 near Sandy Mush Road at about 1:20 p.m., Officer Moises Onsurez said. She was driving a 1996 Toyota Avalon southbound on Highway 59, he said, and for an unknown reason drifted into the northbound lane.

“The vehicle overturned several times,” Onsurez said. Witnesses at the scene stopped to try and get the woman out of the car, he added.

Pio Rodriguez, 38, heard the collision from a nearby home he was barbequing at with family. He said he saw a huge cloud of dust and smoke and arrived at the scene minutes after.

Rodriguez said he saw the woman’s head against the window and “I thought she was alive.” Along with about eight other people, he said, they flipped the car over to try and get her out of the car. After they flipped the car over, Rodriguez said, he saw the woman’s legs move four times and then she stayed motionless.

“There was blood on her face and her head was stuck to the window,” the Livingston resident said.

As of Sunday, Onsurez said, it was unknown what speed she was going and whether alcohol or drugs were a factor. She was wearing a seat belt.

Earlier on Sunday at about 6:10 a.m., a 26-year-old woman from Merced was ejected from a 2000 Toyota Camry when she crashed into a pillar on the north end of 16th Street in Merced, Officer Eric Zuniga said.

She had just exited the 16th Street freeway exit on Highway 99 south, Zuniga said. No other vehicles were involved and she was the only person in the car.

She was not wearing a seat belt, Zuniga confirmed, and it is unknown if alcohol or drugs played a factor in the collision.

This story was originally published September 3, 2017 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Two women killed in separate crashes in Merced County."