6 Killed, 6 Hurt in Traffic Accidents

Six people died and six others were injured, five of them seriously, in separate traffic accidents Friday night and Saturday.

The first fatal accident happened about 9:20 p.m. Friday on East Vista Way east of Tushak Ranch Road in Bonsall. A California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said an unidentified man died after the vehicle he was driving east on East Vista Way drifted into the westbound lanes and collided head-on with another vehicle.

The driver of the second car, Daniel T. Brown, 38, of Vista was seriously injured and taken to Palomar Hospital.

He was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and driving under the influence, the CHP said. The accident is under investigation.

In a second fatality, an unidentified pedestrian died at UC San Diego Medical Center at 10:15 p.m. Friday, about 40 minutes after he was struck by a car while he walking east across the northbound lane of Interstate 5, near Fifth Avenue. The driver of the car, Robert Ledford, 24, of San Diego was slightly injured. He was treated at UCSD Medical Center and released.

About 11:30 p.m. Friday, two people died and three others were seriously injured on California 76 near the Pala Indian Reservation. According to a CHP spokeswoman, George Machado, 38, of Pala was driving west on California 76 at a high rate of speed when he failed to negotiate a sharp curve about two miles east of Magee Road.

The CHP said his car crossed the center line and smashed head-on into a car driven by Emory Cripe, 72, of Valley Center. Cripe and one of his three passengers, Elizabeth Stratford, 58, also of Valley Center, were dead at the scene. Cripe’s wife, Vera, 69, and Stratford’s husband, Leland, 62, were seriously injured.

Machado and Vera Cripe were taken to Palomar Hospital, where their conditions were listed as stable. Stratford was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital in critical condition. Machado was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and felony drunk driving.

An 18-year-old Fallbrook man died about 11:40 p.m. Friday when the compact car he was in went out of control on a curve, hit an embankment and rolled several times. Another person in the car, David Siebenforcher, was ejected.

The accident occurred on Gird Road near Reche Road in Fallbrook.

And a 58-year-old Vista man died at Fallbrook Hospital about 8 a.m. Saturday, an hour after the car he was driving left the roadway and hit a large tree near the edge of the road on Old River Road, west of Dentro De Lomas Road in Bonsall. A CHP spokeswoman identified him as Fausto Morrales. A passenger identified as Benito Reyes, who lived with Morrales, was hospitalized with moderate injuries.