Couple Is Critically Injured in Crash With Pickup

A Woodland Hills couple was critically injured Saturday when their car went out of control, crossed a dirt center divider and struck a pickup truck head-on on the Antelope Valley Freeway, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The couple had just missed hitting a nearby guardrail in the center divider that would have prevented them from driving into oncoming traffic, CHP Officer Rick Chisham said.

Rodney and Stacy Cornette, both 22, were being treated for multiple injuries at Northridge Hospital Medical Center following the accident, which occurred around 11:14 a.m. on the freeway near the Mountain Springs Road overpass, officials said.

Rodney Cornette suffered a fractured pelvis and a broken thighbone in the collision, while his wife also was treated for a broken thighbone and severe burns, hospital spokesmen said. The unidentified truck driver was taken to Palmdale Hospital Medical Center, but information on his injuries was not available.

The Cornettes were traveling northbound on the freeway in their car when a tire blew out on a nearby Vega, causing that vehicle to swerve out of control, Chisham said.