Suisun City, CA : One dead from Rio Vista in head-on crash on Highway 12 at Shiloh Road and Lambie Road on Thursday, May 26, 2016

A 50-year-old Rio Vista woman was killed Thursday when she crossed the center lines on Highway 12 between Suisun City and her hometown and collided head-on with a big-rig that was coming from the opposite direction.

The California Highway Patrol said the woman, identified by the Solano County Coroner’s Office as Renee Cook, was headed west on Highway 12 shortly before 10:25 a.m. when for unknown reasons she allowed her 2002 Ford Expedition to cross the center divide, rumble strip and raised delineators – into oncoming traffic.

Sane Cha, 37, of Stockton, who was headed east at the time in a 2014 Volvo big-rig, took evasive action that included swerving to the right and braking, but could not avoid a collision with the Expedition, CHP reports.

A 2012 Acura MDX, driven by Detra D. Washington of Fairfield, was also headed west behind the Expedition and got caught up in the crash as debris from the impact landed on her vehicle and broke a window, CHP reports.

Cook died as a result of her injuries. Cha had minor injuries and was taken to Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center for treatment, CHP reports. Washington was not hurt in the crash.

Both directions of Highway 12 east of the city were closed for nearly four hours after the crash, which occurred east of Shiloh Road and Lambie Road and west of the Western Railway Museum.

A regional traffic alert was issued shortly after 10:50 a.m. indicating that both directions of traffic on the highway were blocked as a result of the crash and the subsequent investigation.

Authorities called a coroner to the scene just before 11 a.m.

The situation was aggravated several minutes later when a big-rig jack-knifed as the driver tried to turn the semi around, completely blocking the highway and delaying crews that were responding to the initial crash scene, CHP reports.

Reports that some big-rig drivers on the eastbound side of the highway were refusing to back up on the roadway, to help clear the scene and to provide access to the crash site, soon followed.

Westbound traffic on Highway 12 was diverted to Highway 113. Eastbound traffic on Highway 12 was diverted to Lambie Road, then north onto Goose Haven Road, then east onto Creed Road to Highway 113.

The highway reopened shortly before 2:15 p.m., CHP reports.

Source :
CHP reports 1 dead from Rio Vista in head-on Highway 12 crash