A driver from La Habra in Southern California was killed Wednesday afternoon in a head-on crash after he fled Yosemite National Park following a reckless driving incident, a park official said Thursday.
The driver, who died in the crash on Highway 41 near the Road 222 to Bass Lake, had not been identified as of Thursday by the Madera County Coroner. Four occupants of two other vehicles were injured in the crash, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Park spokesman Scott Gediman said that about noon, rangers were alerted to a reckless driver behind a tour bus headed to Yosemite.
The driver, in a Toyota Yaris, sped through the entrance at the park gate, and drove about five miles into Yosemite toward Wawona, where park rangers made contact with him. The driver then flipped around and began to speed out of the park.
Gediman said rangers stopped following the driver at Fish Camp, but the CHP was alerted, and the collision took place about 13 miles later.
CHP spokesman Joel Heckman reported that the Yaris driver was moving at a high rate of speed when he collided with the back of a Nissan that was also southbound on 41
The Yaris overturned and slammed into a northbound Chevrolet Trailblazer occupied by three people. The Yaris driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene.
At least one of the Trailblazer occupants was injured and taken to St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno. The Nissan driver was also hurt, but the extent of the injuries was not known.
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