Santa Rosa woman struck by car on Highway 101 dies of injuries

A Santa Rosa woman was killed early Friday after she was thrown from her scooter on Highway 101 and hit by a car, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Pamela Warren, 58, was heading north on the highway just after 3:30 a.m. when her Aprila Scarabeo Scooter hit a light pole that had fallen onto the roadway north of River Road after a Freightliner tractor-trailer slammed into it minutes earlier, the CHP said.

Warren did not see the downed light pole, which had fallen across two lanes. The crash caused the scooter to overturn and she was tossed into the roadway, officers said.

Warren landed in the center divider. As she was attempting to crawl to the right shoulder, officers said, she was hit by a Toyota Prius traveling in the slow lane.

Officers said the Prius driver, a 38-year-old Santa Rosa man, didn't see Warren until she crawled into his lane. He swerved trying to avoid her but struck her with the right front of his car, they said.

Warren was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where she died after suffering major injuries, the CHP said.

She was heading either to or from work at the time of the accident, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said Friday afternoon. He said it is legal to ride the scooter on the highway.

It was unclear what caused the semi-truck driver to veer off the edge of the road and strike the street light, authorities said. The driver never stopped, CHP officials said.

The CHP is treating the initial crash as a hit and run and are searching for both the semi-truck - with a red-and-white cab and a white trailer - and the driver. The truck may have been damaged on its right front, CHP officials said.

“We're currently looking for any video cameras that would have picked up anything on the freeway on that stretch (of highway),” Sloat said.

They're also checking with CHP weigh stations and commercial offices around the state, he added.

The fatal crash shut down part of the highway for more than a hour Friday morning. Officers don't suspect alcohol was a factor.

Anyone with information on the crash should call the CHP at 588-1400.