OXNARD : 7 Hurt When Cars Collide Head-On

Five adults and two infants were hurt Sunday when two cars crashed head-on east of Oxnard, the California Highway Patrol said.

Three victims were able to walk away with only scrapes and bruises, but two adults and a baby were trapped between their seats and the dashboard, said CHP Officer Ernie Sanchez.

The crash occurred at 1:55 p.m. when Francisco Vasquez, 24, of Oxnard was driving west on Hueneme Road about 55 m.p.h.

He veered onto the right shoulder for unknown reasons, Sanchez said, and overcorrected.

His car went out of control, colliding with a station wagon going about 45 m.p.h. in the opposite direction, Sanchez said.

Six members of a Los Angeles family were in the station wagon, with a 4-month-old baby sitting on her mother’s lap in the front, and a 6-week-old infant in an unstrapped baby seat in the back seat, Sanchez said.

It took about 10 minutes to free the 4-month-old baby, Laura Martinez, who suffered a broken leg and a cut on her tongue, Sanchez said.

She is in fair condition at Ventura County Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.

Firefighters using rescue equipment took about 25 minutes to free her mother, Josefa Gonzalez, 22, who suffered major injuries, Sanchez said.

Gonzalez is in critical condition at Ventura County Medical Center.

The other infant, Juan Ravelo, suffered minor injuries because he stayed inside the baby seat when it was tossed forward by the crash, Sanchez said. He was treated and released from St. John’s. His mother, Lucina Ravelo, 24, is in fair condition at St. John’s Regional Medical Center.

The fathers of the two infants, Rafael Moreno, 34, and Jose Martinez, 26, were treated and released from St. John’s.

Vasquez, who also suffered minor injuries, will be cited for driving without a license, and authorities are still investigating the accident, Sanchez said.