BUTTONWILLOW, Calif. (KGET) — Two people were hospitalized after a vehicle collided with a disabled car on Highway 58 west of Bakersfield, according to the California Highway Patrol.
CHP said on Thursday morning just before 6:30 a.m., the Bakersfield Communications Center received a call of a traffic crash in the area of State Route 58 east of Bussell Road. Officers from the California Highway Patrol Buttonwillow area office responded to the scene.
A preliminary investigation indicated a 66-year-old man from Bakersfield had been involved in a previous collision, and his vehicle, a 2001 Toyota Rav4, was disabled in the westbound lane of State Route 58, east of Bussell Road, facing west.
CHP said the man had exited his vehicle and was surveying the damage as another 66-year-old man from Bakersfield driving a 2019 Subaru vehicle was traveling westbound in on Highway 58 at approximately 60 mph, approaching the Toyota driver’s location.
Due to the combination of patchy fog in the area and unsafe speed for the roadway conditions, the man traveling in the Subaru did not see the Toyota driver’s vehicle until just prior to impact, according to CHP. The Toyota vehicle hit the rear of the Subaru vehicle, and the Subaru driver was found lying in the traffic lanes.
Both drivers were transported to Kern Medical Hospital with major injuries, according to officers.
CHP said alcohol and or drugs were not a factor in the collision. State Route 58 was temporarily closed due to the collision for approximately 30 minutes.
For any additional information contact the Buttonwillow Area office Public Information Officer M. Garcia at (661)764-5580.