The California Highway Patrol has released details regarding an accident in Lake Elsinore. Two women were injured in an accident that occurred on February 21, around 11:00 a.m.
45-year-old Melissa Brasington was driving her 2017 Subaru in the right shoulder of I-15 north. During her shoulder commute, she came upon 79-year-old Carolyn Leak who was driving in the right “slow” lane of the interstate.
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Brasington’s Subaru began steering into Leak’s Mercedes-Benz. The front end of Brasington’s Subaru collided with the back end of Leak’s Mercedes-Benz. This sent Brasington up a dirt embankment and into a steel freeway sign pole.
Leak’s vehicle ended up spinning and overturned in the middle of the interstate. Leak was ejected from the vehicle through the sunroof. She was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. The final resting place of the Mercedes was the northern shoulder of the road, right side up.
The Riverside County Fire Department paramedics responded to the scene of the accident. They performed emergency aid on Leak prior to transporting her to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar. Her injuries are considered to be life-threatening.
The paramedics also transported Brasington to the same hospital after the accident. She was stable upon transport. Her injuries were also serious from the accident.
The California Highway Patrol has not determined why Brasington was driving on the shoulder. They have not determined if alcohol and/or drugs were a factor in the accident.
An alert was issued regarding the accident around 11:20 a.m. Traffic was backed up for miles due to the accident in the northbound lanes.
The California Highway Patrol had to open up the center median of Interstate 15 in order to get the traffic back to a continuous flow. They were able to reopen the northbound lanes around 12:50 p.m.
The accident is still considered under investigation.