Everyone survived after two cars crashed and then careened into a row of palm trees on Wilshire Boulevard near 17th Street Wednesday afternoon. The police investigation into the collision shut down the busy street near the Mercedes-Benz dealership for hours.
A driver in a Chevy Cruze was traveling east on Wilshire Boulevard plowed through a red light at 17th Street, hitting a Chevy Volt in the middle of the intersection, according to Santa Monica police. Santa Monica Fire Department paramedics raced the driver and a passenger in the Cruze to the hospital in critical condition. The two occupants not only survived but hospital staff downgraded their injuries to ‘minor’ before discharging them later that night.
The driver of the electric hybrid car hit by the Cruze complained of pain but did not go to the hospital.
Detectives with SMPD’s Major Accident Response Team (MART) took a blood test of the driver of the Cruze and are waiting for results before determining whether drugs or alcohol factored into the crash. No one was arrested at the scene.
The police report did not note any significant damage to the palm trees, according to Lt. Rodriguez with SMPD.
kate@www.smdp.com
