Listen here:
The details of a two car collision on November 20 eerily match details of a two car collision that occurred a few days later on Thanksgiving morning (November 23).
Residents of the hi-desert are heartbroken and concerned for their own safety.
A stretch of Old Woman Springs Road, roughly between Olivine Road and Boone Road, near the entrance of the Johnson Valley OHV Recreation Area, has proven especially dangerous recently. Two curving lanes are separated by a double yellow line, and flanked by loose gravel on the side. Passing slower cars in this area is proving to be as deadly as it is illegal.
On November 20, California Highway Patrol reports that Josie Stijepovic was driving a Jeep Cherokee southbound on Old Woman Springs Road north of Olivine Road and passed a slower car by crossing the yellow lines into the northbound lane. The jeep collided with a Kia and killing the driver, Anthony Parra, 36, and his passenger, Alyssa Parra, 33. The couple were residents of Twentynine Palms and Alyssa was seven months pregnant.
Stijepovic, a 39 year-old from Helendale, was treated for major injuries, and may face charges when the investigation into the collision is complete.
On November 23, Thanksgiving morning, the CHP reports that William Stuart was driving an Audi northbound on Old Woman Springs Road, south of Olivine Road, when he crossed the double lines to pass another vehicle, and collided with a a Lincoln, which caught fire. Stuart, 58 was killed and so was the driver of the Lincoln, identified only as a 72 year-old man from Wofford Heights. The passenger in the Lincoln suffered major injuries.
Collisions of this type have a history on this stretch of road. In 2019, the same type of collision in the same area saw visiting Air Force Captain Alexander Merz killed. The CHP reports that Anthony Wilson attempted to pass a car on the same bit of road, colliding head-on with Merz, who later died.
Old Woman Springs Road, and the entirety of State Route 247 is controlled by California’s state agency Caltrans. And this particular stretch of road is freshly paved, with recently painted lane markings equipped with rumble strips. Signs posted on either side of the stretch clearly say “do not pass,”
Yet cars continue to pass, endangering, injuring, and even killing people.
Caltrans told Z1077 that they are conducting a field investigation into the collisions, and will present their findings at a later date.
The Landers Community Association has sent an open letter to Caltrans requesting changes. That letter cites an increase of commercial, tractor-trailer trucks on the two-lane state highway as one possible cause, and requests traffic delineations and turnout lanes.
In the interest of public safety, Z1077 urges drivers on any of our rural highways, in particular Old Woman Springs Road, and especially this particular stretch of state highway between Landers and Johnson Valley, to abide by marked lane divisions and road signs and to exercise extreme caution when driving, day or night. The high desert’s roads are dangerous – – don’t make them more so.
Previously reported:
