Speed and inattention are responsible for a crash last month involving two Sheriff’s deputies, according to a story published by the Hi-Desert Star Wednesday. On January 1, Deputies Brandon Abell and Scott Andrews were returning to the Sheriff’s station about 6:30 p.m. They were both driving westbound on Highway 62, just east of the California Highway Patrol station when Abell rear-ended Andrews’ patrol car. According to the Star, both deputies had slowed down while they passed a CHP officer who had made a traffic stop on the highway. Abell told CHP investigators he took his eyes off the road to look at something on the front seat of his car, and when he looked back up, Andrews’ car was directly in front of him, and he rear ended it. Andrew’s patrol car rolled over several times after being hit, coming to rest on its roof on the south side of the highway. Abell stopped his patrol unit on the north side of the highway. According to the Hi-Desert Star, the CHP investigation determined that Abell was driving more than 80 miles per hour at the time of the crash, and was not wearing his seatbelt; Andrews was driving between 70 and 80 miles per hour, and was wearing a seatbelt. The speed limit on Highway 62 in that area is 65 miles per hour. Both deputies were slightly injured in the crash; their patrol cars received major damage.
