Woman seriously hurt in crash with wrong-way driver on Coronado Bridge
A 24-year-old woman is suspected of being drunk and driving the wrong way onto the Coronado bridge, causing a chain reaction crash that seriously injured another driver early Monday.
The woman, in a Ford Fusion, drove onto the bridge headed east out of Coronado, but in westbound lanes, about 4:05 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Jake Sanchez said. Soon after, she crashed head-on into a Ford F-150.
Another westbound driver in a Dodge Ram then slammed into the crashed pickup.
A CHP officer who was parked at the Coronado entrance to the bridge spotted the wrong-way driver and took off after her, but wasn’t able to prevent the crash, Sanchez said.
The wrong-way Fusion driver, identified as Briana Rall of San Diego, suffered moderate injuries, while the 49-year-old woman in the F-150 suffered major injuries. The 27-year-old San Diego man in the Dodge wasn’t seriously hurt.
All three were taken to UC San Diego Medical Center, Sanchez said.
Rall will be arrested on felony DUI charges when she is released from the hospital.
The collision closed the bridge in both directions, snarling traffic for morning commuters. All lanes reopened shortly before 6 a.m.