UPDATE: Woman Suffers Life-Threatening Injuries In Monday's Hwy 101 Crash

A woman suffered life-threatening injuries in a chain-reaction collision on U.S. Highway 101 early this morning near Petaluma, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The CHP received a report at 5:42 a.m. about a collision involving three vehicles in the highway’s northbound lanes just north of Pepper Road in unincorporated Sonoma County. At the scene, the vehicles blocked all lanes and a driver was trapped and unconscious in her car, CHP officials said. The lanes were closed while the scene was cleared and the woman was extricated.

An investigation indicated that the trapped driver, a 35-year-old woman in a Honda Civic, crashed into the highway’s center median, CHP officials said. Her vehicle then came to rest perpendicular to the highway’s lanes and she might have removed her seatbelt at that time, according to the CHP.

Because of weather conditions and darkness, her black vehicle was difficult for other drivers to see, and an SUV driven by a 68-year-old Santa Rosa resident crashed into the disabled Honda, which then collided with a car driven by a 44-year-old Burlingame resident, CHP officials said.

Those other two drivers apparently did not suffer injuries. The woman in the Honda had to be taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries considered life-threatening.

The CHP is asking anyone who may have seen the collision to call the agency’s Rohnert Park office at (707) 588-1400.

• Previous:
• UPDATE on Monday A.M. Hwy 101Crash: 1 Hospitalized
• JUST IN MONDAY A.M.: Portion Of Northbound Hwy 101 Closed

• Also see:
• Elderly Motorist Killed In Weekend Crash Near Geyserville
• Intruder Breaks Into Rohnert Park Apartment, Flees When Resident Screams

--Bay City News