One person was seriously injured and three others had minor injuries on Tuesday after a head-on collision in the Santa Ynez Valley.
The crash involving a passenger car and an SUV occurred at approximately noon on Highway 154 near the eastern intersection with Armour Ranch Road.
(An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the crash was near the Highway 246 roundabout.)
Sarah Kahn, 16, of Santa Ynez was westbound on Highway 154 when she applied the brakes hard as traffic slowed ahead of her east of the intersection with Highway 246, the California Highway Patrol said.
The driver turned the vehicle to the right to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of her and turned to the left to avoid going off the road, the CHP said.
The 2002 Nissan she was driving collided with the front of the eastbound 2013 Hyundai driven by Maryanne Devito, 65, of Garden Grove.
Personnel from Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol were dispatched to the scene.
Devito was transported by CalStar medical helicopter to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni said. She reportedly had broken ribs, the CHP said.
The teen driver, and passengers in both vehicles, Frank Devito, 37, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Cynthia Arroyo, 21, of Santa Ynez, had minor injuries and were treated at the scene, but it was not known if they went to a hospital for treatment.
Highway 154 was shut briefly so the medical helicopter could land to pick up the patient, Zaniboni said.
Additionally, one lane remained closed until about 1:15 p.m. so crews could remove the wrecked vehicles.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
