Driver in critical condition after Highway 37 head-on crash

One motorist was critically injured and four other people hurt in a head-on collision Thursday morning on Highway 37 in Novato, the CHP said.

The driver of a 2013 Nissan work van, which crossed over into oncoming traffic and struck a 2014 Cadillac Escalade, sustained life-threatening injuries in the 10:35 a.m. crash, on the highway west of Atherton Avenue, the CHP said.

The male driver was not identified due to the nature of his injuries, but is believed to be a Sonoma County resident, Officer Andrew Barclay said in written statement.

The Escalade driver, James Bizily, 46, of Phoenix, and his 46-year-old wife and two sons, 11 and 7, were transported to Novato Community Hospital with injuries ranging from minor to moderate, the CHP said.

A Sonoma woman who was traveling in a vehicle behind the van said she watched it veer across the highway at about 60 mph, passing through an opening in the center divider guardrail without slowing down.

The witness, who asked not to be identified, said she did not see the collision but saw the van roll over several times. She stopped, rushed to the van and found the driver unconscious and bleeding, still strapped in his seat belt in the crumpled front end of the vehicle.

The woman, who said she had first aid training, held the man’s head in a position that allowed him to continue breathing until paramedics arrived. The man had sustained a severe cut above his mouth, possibly from a sharp piece of plastic that was pointed toward him, she said.

“I was glad I felt I could help him,” she said.

The CHP said the van was westbound on the highway when the driver allowed it to drift left into the grassy center divider, strike a small part of the guardrail as it passed through the opening and cross into the eastbound traffic lanes.

The van driver was taken to Marin General Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Thursday, the CHP said.

Both vehicles sustained major damage and the slow lane of eastbound Highway 37 was closed to allow emergency access to the crash site, backing up traffic for about a mile, the CHP said. All lanes were reopened by about 12:05 p.m.

The cause of the collision had not been determined, and investigators were continuing to work with witnesses to determine why the van traveled across the highway, Barclay said.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@guykovner.