Three traffic crashes took place over the last week on Hill roads, according to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Darren Meyer.
At 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 21, Matthew Stuart, 20, of Hemet, was driving his white 2002 Mazda Protégé sedan westbound on Highway 74, 300 feet east of Strawberry Creek, when he made an unsafe turning movement and lost control of the vehicle, causing it to hit the mountain. The responding CHP officer cited unsafe speed as a causative factor.
With Stuart in the right front passenger seat was Jazmin Fleming, 18, of Yucca Valley. Fleming complained of pain to the head and was transported by American Medical Response to Hemet Valley Medical Center. Stuart declined transport. His vehicle was towed from the scene.
At 9:50 p.m. Thursday, June 22, a yet unidentified person driving a white 2003 Volvo eastbound on South Circle Drive just east of Strong Drive made an unsafe turning movement causing the vehicle to hit a rock and a wooden address sign. The driver fled the scene on foot. Both the car and sign were damaged. The car, registered in Redlands, was towed to Idyllwild Garage.
At 9:30 a.m. Friday, June 23, Alice Lindsey, 76, of Idyllwild, was driving her green 2001 Toyota Tacoma truck westbound on Highway 74, 500 feet east of Bee Canyon Road, when she allowed her vehicle to drift to the right, hitting the shoulder. She overcorrected to the left, causing her vehicle to go over the embankment and 20 feet down the hill before hitting a boulder and overturning. Lindsey was not injured and her moderately damaged vehicle was towed from the scene.
