A crash on Wednesday night that led to the death of four people and injuries to others might have been linked to alcohol, the Rio Vista Police Department said Thursday.
Emergency responders responded at 8:12 p.m. to state Highway 12 between Summerset and Church roads after receiving a report of a traffic collision.
One vehicle was a Honda Accord occupied by three people while the other was a Chevrolet Suburban occupied by seven people who were on vacation in the U.S. from Mexico, police said.
The Honda appears to have been traveling west on Highway 12 when it veered off the roadway to the right, overcorrected and then entered the eastbound lane, colliding with the Chevrolet head-on. The driver and the rear passenger of the Honda were ejected from the vehicle during the crash.
Rio Vista police have not yet made a definitive driving under the influence (DUI) determination, but they report that there were “numerous” open alcoholic beverage containers in and around the Honda.
The Honda was being driven by a 20-year-old man out of Rancho Cordova. A 19-year-old passenger was the owner of the vehicle, a woman from Vacaville. The third occupant of the car was a similarly-aged “Jane Doe,” police said. All three occupants of the car are now dead and their identities are being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.
A passenger in the Chevrolet has also died, Laura Poiret, who was in her early to mid 70s, according to police. Also in the Chevrolet were two girls, one 8 years old and one between 13 and 15. All of the passengers remain in hospitals in stable condition, police said.
The area was shut down for a period on Wednesday night as several agencies controlled the scene and investigated, including the Rio Vista Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, and medical teams.
That road is dangerous enough without drunk drivers.
I’ve been on precisely that section of Hwy. 12 hundreds of times (yes, literally) and it’s dangerous and always has been. The road goes up and down and you can’t see the big truck coming towards you because it’s down in one of the dips. Then it emerges right there in front of you like a sneaker wave. That, and the fog for part of the year. I’ve always hated that road.
I’m surprised that even in a chevy suburban all passengers were hurt. Maybe it’s an older chevy? I have a 2016 Yukon and this truck kindly plowed into us and my car was pretty damaged ($23,000 worth) but none of us were injured and were we still able to continue on to San Diego. His truck on the other hand, he totaled it and he had a truck that had two tires on the back of it.
@Raiderette….Most every truck and car has two tires on the back….?
nyte,
a Dually
@S….A dually would have 4 tires behind it or was it a two wheeled truck carrying two tires in the bed. Tires are made of rubber, wheels are aluminum or steel….get my point?
I would guess that the car must have been traveling at a high rate of speed to cause so much damage to such a large vehicle and it’s occupants.
.
I don’t like that section of Hwy 12 at night or any time it is foggy… the same with Hwy 160.
.
Hwy 4 east of Discovery Bay is also iffy.
.
Maybe CalTrans should consider making it a physically divided highway like Hwy 37 between Vallejo and Sonoma Raceway.
.
I did not buy a home in Rio Vista just because of that road. RIP those involved.