3 dead, 3 injured in wrong-way car crash on Highway 46 in SLO County
Three people were killed and two were seriously injured in a wrong-way, triple-vehicle crash Sunday night on Highway 46 East.
The crash occurred just before 10:30 p.m. near Shandon, according to a news release from California Highway Patrol.
The driver who caused the crash, 30-year-old Saundra Foutz of Paso Robles, was heading west in a 2021 Mercedes in the eastbound lane of the highway when she hit a 2022 Honda head on, the CHP said. A second eastbound vehicle, a 2015 Honda, was closely following the first car and piled up on the initial crash.
The driver and two passengers of the first Honda suffered fatal injuries and were transported to the county Coroner’s Office, according to the CHP report. The identities of the deceased victims are being withheld by officials pending notification of their next of kin, but they were a 24-year-old woman from Cutler, a 32-year-old woman from Sanger and 27-year-old man from Reedley.
Two others sustained major injuries, including Foutz, who was driving the wrong way on the highway, and the fourth person in the first Honda, 28-year-old Carlos Quinonez of Orange Cove. Both were immediately transported to hospitals for emergency medical treatment.
The driver of third car, 38-year-old Jess Lopez of Bakersfield, sustained minor injuries and was not transported.
“We are still investigating if impairment was involved in this accident,” CHP Officer Patrick Seebart said.
He said that the officers on the scene did not get to spend much time with Foutz, who was found unconscious and immediately flown out to a Fresno hospital for surgery.
“They did not see any sign of alcohol in the car, but drugs, we’re not sure,” Seebart said.
Foutz survived surgery and is in recovery now.
The crash is the second fatal collision on the highway in less than a week.
On Tuesday, two people died when they tried to pass a big rig on Highway 46 East near the Cholame “Y” and crashed head-on with another vehicle.
The CHP has not yet identified the two fatalities.
Tribune reporter Chloe Jones contributed to this story.
