One dead in crash on Occidental Road
A head-on collision killed one person and seriously injured three others Saturday night on Occidental Road near Sebastopol.
The accident occurred about 9:15 p.m. at 5700 Occidental Road between Sanford and Bravo Toro roads, along a straightaway next to the Balleto Ranch vineyards.
Jessie Panoski, 29, said she had left a birthday party in Sebastopol and was on her way home to Santa Rosa when she saw the lights of an oncoming car in her lane.
"All I saw was headlights. The car was trying to pass and it obviously didn't see me," she said.
The oncoming car, a red Toyota Tercel, clipped the driver's side of her car, spinning her out of control. The Tercel then struck a blue Mazda Protege head on.
The Tercel had only a driver's side airbag, which deployed, but an unidentified male in the passenger seat died at the scene, according to Sebastopol Fire Chief John Zanzi.
Both airbags also deployed in the Protege.
A total of three people were taken to taken to Memorial Hospital with serious injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol.
-- Derek J. Moore
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