Two hospitalized after crashes on Interstate I-19 in Santa Cruz County in
Arizona
A Nissan passenger
vehicle burns in the median of Interstate 19 after crashing into a semi truck
on Friday.
Posted:
Friday, January 2, 2015 11:52 am | Updated: 11:54 am, Fri Jan 2, 2015.
Two
women were hospitalized following crashes on Interstate 19 in Santa Cruz County
during the first two days of the New Year.
Interstate
19
(I-19) is an intrastate Interstate Highway
located entirely within the U.S. state of Arizona. I-19
travels from Nogales, roughly 300 feet (91 m) from the Mexican border, to Tucson,
at I-10. The highway also travels through the
cities of Rio Rico, Green Valley, and Sahuarita.
At
approximately 8:49 a.m. on Jan. 1, a 2005 Ford Expedition was traveling north
near Kilometer 40 when the female driver lost control, said Quentin Mehr of the
Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The
Expedition rolled over and came to rest on the southbound side of the
interstate, Mehr said. The driver was ejected and was subsequently airlifted to
a local hospital with unspecified injuries. Three passengers in the SUV were
treated and released.
No
one in the vehicle was wearing seat belts at the time of the rollover, Mehr
said. The incident is under investigation, but impairment is not suspected.
Then
at about 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 2, a Nissan passenger car was traveling south on
I-19 at Kilometer 26 when the female driver lost control of her vehicle and ran
into the rear end of a semi truck.
The
semi came to a controlled stop in the right hand emergency lane, Mehr said, but
the Nissan went into the median and caught fire. The blaze was extinguished by
personnel from the Tubac Fire District.
The
driver of the Nissan was transported to a local hospital for treatment of her
unspecified injuries. Fatigue is the suspected cause of the crash, but it
remains under investigation Mehr said.