Six people were injured, three critically, in a two-car crash in Twentynine Palms yesterday afternoon that shut down Highway 62 for an hour. According to the Sheriff’s Department, about 4:07, a white VW Jetta attempted to make a left-hand turn onto Highway 62 from northbound Pederson near the Eagles Aerie. The male driver did not see a maroon Jetta traveling eastbound on the highway. The female driver of the maroon Jetta was not able to avoid the white car, and crashed into its left front quarter panel. The white car stayed on the highway, but the maroon car skidded off the north side of the highway, ran over a street sign, and sheared off a fire hydrant, before coming to rest on a chain-link fence at the Eagles Aerie. Two occupants in the maroon Jetta were not wearing their seatbelts and suffered major injuries. They were flown to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, and another occupant of the vehicle was taken to Desert Hospital by ambulance. Highway 62 was shut down completely in both directions until 5:30 to allow the helicopters to land. The maroon Jetta also had a child in a child car seat who suffered minor to moderate injuries, as did the male and female occupants of the white Jetta. They were all taken to Hi-Desert Medical Center. The sheered-off fire hydrant was shooting a geyser of water into the air, and the Twentynine Palms Water District had to shut off the water to the fire hydrant. At this time, it’s not believed that alcohol or speeding were factors in the crash. The Sheriff’s Department has not yet released any of the names of the people involved in the crash.
