Car Accident Sends Two to Hospital, Knocks Out Neighborhood Power

A car accident along Winding Way near Crestridge Road has left the driver in life-threatening condition, the other passenger with unknown injuries and a neighborhood without electricity.

The accident occurred a little after 1 p.m. Wednesday when the driver lost consciousness and veered directly into the path of an electrical pole, Sacramento Metro Fire batallion chief Eric Bridge said.

Bridge explained the lack of skid marks on the road, coupled with eyewitness accounts, lead his crew to believe the driver's loss of consciousness lead to the accident.

"The passenger said he passed out," Bridge said.

Rob Octavian was sitting on his front stoop at the corner of Crestridge Rd. and Winding Way when the accident occurred.

"It was so loud, the walls shook," Octavian said.

The resulting damage to the power lines and pole could keep power out along Winding Way and its surrounding neighborhoods for as long as eight to 10 hours, said SMUD formean Dan Skillman who arrived at the scene shortly after the accident.

The driver, whose identity is not being disclosed, is described as an elderly man, born in 1930, making him 81 or 82 years of age. The male passenger is described as being aged in his mid to late 70s.

The two were transported to Mercy San Juan Hospital, Bridge said. The driver had no vital signs as he left the scene of the accident. The passenger's injuries were unknown but he appeared stable, Bridge said.

Traffic along Winding Way will be diverted until the wreckage is cleared and crews are able to make sure all live electrical wires are removed from the roads. The work could take as long as 10 hours.

"Five hours would be putting it generously," said California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Liz Dutton.