SOLEDAD : Road Closed While Driver Is Rescued
Rush-hour traffic in Soledad was snarled for about two hours when a car plunged 50 feet down an embankment, forcing authorities to close a portion of Soledad Canyon Road early Monday morning, the California Highway Patrol reported.
The motorist, De Autry Jones of Lancaster, was treated for minor injuries at Palmdale Hospital, said CHP Officer John Manduca.
Jones was traveling west on Soledad Canyon Road east of Indian Canyon Road about 6 a.m. when he attempted “an unsafe pass around a vehicle,” Manduca said.
A car traveling on the east side of the two-lane road “was approaching him and he had to steer sharply to the right to avoid a head-on collision,” Manduca said.
Jones lost control, hit a utility pole, then rolled about 50 feet down an embankment, the CHP said.
Soledad Canyon Road between Crown Valley Road and Agua Dulce Canyon Road was closed while rescuers worked to free Jones who was pinned in his car, Manduca said.
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