Baby and two adults die in collision on Highway 50 east of Placerville

One baby and two adults died in a two-car collision on Highway 50 Tuesday evening east of Placerville.

On January 15, 2019 at approximately 6:27 p.m., the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to the crash near the Camino Heights Drive intersection. They say a 51-year-old man from Fremont, Calif. was driving a 2005 Volvo 560 westbound at a speed around 60 mph. At the same time, a 39-year-old Pollock Pines, Calif. man was heading eastbound in a 2017 Subaru Impreza at approximately 65 mph.

It was raining heavily at the time and due to the speed of the Volvo, CHP believes the driver lost control and spun out of control, ending in the eastbound lanes of traffic in front of the Subaru. The driver of that Subaru had no time to react and the front of the Subaru collided with the right side of the Volvo.

The force of the impact caused the driver and a one-year-old female passenger in the rear of the Volvo to be ejected from the vehicle. An adult female passenger in the right front seat of the Volvo and the driver were unfortunately pronounced deceased at the scene. Despite valiant efforts of both the CHP and medical personnel, the baby was pronounced deceased after being transported to Marshall Hospital.

The Subaru driver was airlifted to a trauma hospital with major injuries.

All involved were wearing seatbelts and drugs/alcohol are not suspected to be a factor in this collision.

Names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

?This collision resulted in the tragic loss of three lives, including that of a small child," said the CHP in a press release. "This will affect many people for a lifetime. We have now had four fatal collisions with six deaths in our area since January 1. Many attributable to speed. Please slow down, be careful and get where you are going safely. Lives depend on it."

The collision closed some lanes of Highway 50 for a few hours.