Increased Number Of Crashes Reported On State Route 247

PALM SPRINGS, CA — Three people were taken to a hospital in Palm Springs Tuesday after an early morning crash on state Route 247 in Flamingo Heights, where the California Highway Patrol will deploy additional enforcement units due to an increased number of crashes.

Officers responded at 6:48 a.m. Tuesday to a report of a crash that resulted in major injuries, according to CHP public information officer Michael Radford. The crash involved a 2013 Mini Cooper, driven by 59-year-old Anna Rodriguez of Desert Hot Springs, and a 2023 Chevrolet Malibu, occupied by 27-year-olds Chance Sistrunk and Christina Layden, both of McAlester, Oklahoma.

Rodriguez was driving northbound on state Route 247 and Sistrunk was driving southbound when Rodriguez allegedly drove over the double yellow lines and struck the front of the Chevrolet, Radford said. They were all taken to the Desert Regional Medical Center, Rodriguez and Layden with major injuries and Sistrunk with moderate injuries.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, though alcohol and/or drugs did not appear to have been factors, according to Radford.

"Due to the increased number of crashes on SR-247, the Morongo Basin Office will be deploying additional special enforcement units," Radford wrote in a statement. "These officers will be strictly enforcing traffic laws with emphasis on unsafe passing and speeding on SR-247."

Anyone with information on the crash was asked to call the Morongo Basin CHP office at 760-366-3707.