An 18-year-old and an 88-year-old woman died in a car accident caused by an unsafe lane change near Orland.
An unsafe lane change on Highway 32 led to a deadly car accident that took the lives of an 18-year-old and an 88-year-old Saturday near Orland.
• A teen driver was passing a vehicle on a two-lane highway when she saw an oncoming car and tried to quickly dart back into her own lane.
• She lost control of her vehicle, which spun back into the oncoming traffic lane and crashed into the other vehicle.
• The teen and an elderly passenger from the other vehicle died at the scene.
• The teen’s passenger suffered a broken neck and was airlifted to a hospital. The other driver and his surviving passenger were taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
The fatal highway crash occurred shortly before 9:30 p.m., according to a report in the Orland Press-Register.
California Highway Patrol officer Joseph Fischer said 18-year-old Orland resident Tracy Khamorn was driving a white 1993 Toyota eastbound on Highway 32 at an unknown rate of speed at the time of the accident.
Highway 32 is a two-lane rural road. Fischer said Khamorn was driving in the westbound lane to pass a slower vehicle near County Road VV when a westbound 2011 Subaru, driven by 56-year-old Magalia resident David Martinez, approached at about 55 mph.
Khamorn turned the Toyota sharply to the right in order to quickly get back into the eastbound lane, Fischer said. The vehicle veered all the way over to the right shoulder. Khamorn tried to steer the vehicle back onto the roadway but she overcorrected and the car spun back into the westbound lane and crashed into Martinez’s Subaru.
The Toyota remained upright, but the Subaru rolled over onto the passenger side, where 88-year-old Magalia resident Elizabeth Bower was sitting.
Khamorn and Bower died at the scene.
Khamorn’s passenger, 18-year-old Robert Thammavong, also of Orland, suffered a broken neck, according to a report in the Chico Enterprise-Record. He was airlifted by helicopter to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.
Martinez and his surviving passenger, 52-year-old Deanna Martinez, also of Magalia, sustained lesser injuries and were taken to Enloe Medical Center by ground ambulance.
The accident is still under investigation, according to the CHP.
The Dangers of Rural Highways
Only 23 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, but 57 percent of all motor vehicle accident fatalities occur on rural roads, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The NHTSA’s latest figures show that the fatality rate per vehicle miles traveled was 2.5 times higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
A large majority of car accident deaths in rural areas — 67 percent — occur on highways, where the speed limit is 55 mph or higher. In urban areas, the opposite is true: 68 percent of all fatal crashes occur on roads where the speed limit is less than 50 mph.
Rural highways often are only two lanes, which presents significant danger to motorists who use the oncoming traffic lane to pass at high speed.
Finally, hospitals are few and far between in rural areas. The risk of dying on the way to the hospital is significantly higher in a rural accident than an urban one.
Orland Highway Accident Lawyers
The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.
