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