One dead in two-car crash on Valley Ford Road

One man was killed and four people injured, one critically, when two cars collided on a rural road west of Petaluma on Friday afternoon, authorities said.

The victim was a passenger in a silver Infiniti sedan that crashed into a black Lexus sedan headed in the opposite direction on Valley Ford Road east of Walker Road about 4:30 p.m. Friday, CHP Sgt. Josh Kolstad said.

The driver of the Infiniti, headed west, drifted onto the right shoulder and overcorrected, Kolstad said. The car crossed both lanes of the road to the left shoulder, then came back onto the road and slammed into the front passenger side of the eastbound Lexus.

A man in a passenger seat of the Infiniti died, Kolstad said.

The man driving the Infiniti was critically injured and flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. A third man in the Infiniti suffered minor injuries and was taken to Memorial Hospital, Kolstad said.

A man and a woman in the black Lexus were taken by ground ambulance to Memorial Hospital with major injuries, Kolstad said.

You can reach Staff Writer Nick Rahaim at 707-521-5203 or nick.rahaim@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nrahaim.