A 59-year-old Fallbrook woman was killed in a head-on crash Tuesday evening after police say her BMW SUV crossed over the double yellow line and into another vehicle, carrying a pregnant woman.
The collision happened in the area just east of the Melba Bishop Park and Recreation Center around 6:15 p.m. Oceanside police say the driver crashed into a Toyota RAV 4 traveling westbound on North River Road near Stallion Drive.
The driver of the BMW was entrapped in the SUV and was unresponsive when officials arrived. Despite lifesaving efforts by firefighters, the woman in the BMW was pronounced dead at the scene.
“We don’t know if she was reaching for something or driving too fast. It’s too early to say,” said Oceanside Police Sgt. Ignacio Lopez.
The driver of the RAV 4, Whitney Sundseth, 23, was airlifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital as a precaution because she is 9 weeks pregnant, according to Lopez. She was later released, police said.
The impact of the crash caused the RAV 4 to spin and ultimately end up facing eastbound on the roadway. A pickup truck traveling behind the vehicle was unable to avoid the RAV 4 and struck it head-on. The driver of the truck was not injured, police said.
None of the vehicles had any passengers.
Oceanside Police don’t suspect alcohol was involved, but the cause of the fatal collision remains under investigation.
Officers closed down North River Road in both directions for a time, issuing a Sig Alert as they investigated the crash.
The name of the driver who died has not yet been released.
