Four Yosemite visitors were injured when their vehicles collided head on just outside El Portal last Friday.
NPS Daily Report: “Park fire and EMS personnel responded to a mutual aid request from Mariposa County for an assist at a head-on collision on Highway 140 near El Portal just before 3 p.m. on August 24th.
The high-speed collision caused major structural damage to both vehicles. Four people were injured. Two air ambulances landed on the roadway near the accident scene and transported the two most critically injured victims.
One, a teenager, was flown to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto and taken directly to surgery.”
This is the second accident this month on Highway 140 leaving the park. The second happened a little farther outside the park but also required a teenager to be airlifted to the hospital.
mercedsunstar.com: “A 14 year-old teen who was leaving Yosemite National Park with his family had to be airlifted to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto after his family’s Chevy Van collided with a 2003 Ford F-150.
The accident occurred after the van, which was driving westbound on Highway 140 approaching Cunningham Road, passed a stop sign, according to Officer Shane Ferriera, California Highway Patrol spokesperson.The front of the van then struck the right side of the truck within the intersection. While the van came to a rest in the intersection, the truck traveled off the roadway and struck a barbed wire fence.”
It’s been less than a year since Steve Medley, President of the Yosemite Association, was killed while driving into work on Highway 140. That’s one death too many. There are lots of blind corners on 140 and people in a hurry often pass at excessive rates of speed. Please, slow down and try to keep it under control. You may save your life and someone else’s.