Tree-Splitting Rollover Car Crash on RB Road Sends Woman to Hospital

Firefighters had to cut a woman in her 20s out of her seat belt and squeeze her through a window after the vehicle she was in flipped and hit a tree on Rancho Bernardo Road early Sunday morning, officials said.

The woman, who was semi-conscious and moaning when authorities arrived, suffered internal injuries and was transported to a local hospital, Fire Capt. Justus Norgord said.

"It's pretty amazing that this individual is alive," Norgord said.

Around 1 a.m. Sunday, the vehicle the woman was traveling in hit a curb heading eastbound on Rancho Bernardo Road near Acena Drive, became airborne, hit a tree and landed on its passenger side, officials said.

Norgord said had the vehicle struck the tree lower, the crash victim may not have survived.

"It hit the tree higher. If it hit the tree lower, the tree wouldn't have budged when it did," Norgord said.

When firefighters arrived, the victim was hanging upside down in the seat belt, he said. Responders used ropes and cribbing to secure the vehicle and prevent it from rolling over, he said.

The front windshield was removed with a crash axe and a firefighter crawled in through a side window and door to help stabilize the woman, Norgord said. They were able to get under the woman and squeeze her through a gap in the windshield area without using the "jaws of life," he said, which was their plan B.

Traffic was temporarily shut down in both directions and "the tree was just shattered all over the road," Norgord said.

The fire captain said there have been numerous crashes along that strip of Rancho Bernardo Road, where the street gradually turns, because people are not paying attention or are DUI.

Officials said it has not yet been determined whether alcohol was a factor in this crash.

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