2 Killed on Route 126 in Head-On Collision : Fillmore: The wreck leaves three others seriously injured. Officials say a long-sought concrete median could have prevented the accident.

Two motorists were killed and three others were seriously injured late Sunday afternoon following a head-on collision on California 126 in Fillmore, authorities said.

The accident occurred about 5 p.m. near Fish Hatchery Road after a westbound car swerved out of control, crossed over the center median and struck another car traveling eastbound, Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Renee Robles said.

The male adult driver of the westbound vehicle, believed to be in his 20s, and a male passenger seated behind him were killed instantly by the force of the impact, Robles said. A 16-year-old girl seated in the front passenger seat of the car suffered a broken leg and broken wrist.

The occupants of the eastbound car, a late-model Ford Thunderbird, suffered less severe injuries from the collision, Robles said. The unidentified woman driver suffered cuts to her head and the passenger, an adult male, suffered broken ribs.

The 16-year-old girl in the first car and the driver of the Thunderbird were flown by sheriff’s helicopter to Ventura County Medical Center, where a nursing supervisor said they were in serious condition.

The male passenger in the Ford was taken by ambulance to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital. His condition was not known.

Identities of the dead men or the injured were not immediately available Sunday night.

Authorities said it was not clear how fast the vehicles were moving at the time of the collision or what caused the westbound car to swerve into the opposing lanes.

Robles said an air bag in the Thunderbird failed to activate despite the force of the collision. The front of the car was badly caved in while the other smaller vehicle was so badly damaged that firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to clear through the wreckage to remove the deceased man from the vehicle’s back seat.

Sunday’s collision was the latest in a string of fatal mishaps that have occurred on the highway in the past few years. Local officials have been working to get concrete highway dividers installed to lessen the severity of the accidents that occur there.

“This is a perfect example of why I want those (concrete) dividers. I’ve been fighting Caltrans for over two years on this,” said Fillmore City Councilman Roger Campbell, who doubles as the assistant chief of the city’s volunteer Fire Department. “It would have saved two people’s lives. The same sort of thing is going to keep happening.”

Traffic on the four-lane highway was backed up for more than an hour in both directions as authorities attempted to clear the mangled wreckage from the roadway.