UPDATE: The California Highway Patrol had initially said drugs and alcohol were a factor in the crash. CHP has issued a correction saying drugs and/or alcohol were not a factor in the collision.
Josie Stijepovic was driving a Jeep Cherokee southbound on Old Woman Spring Road when she began passing a vehicle over double-yellow lines within the opposite lane and collided head-on with the Kia Optima.
Landers, Calif. – Two High Desert residents were killed and another person was seriously injured following a head-on traffic collision on Highway 247 in Landers, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The deadly crash happened at about 8:35 a.m. on State Route 247 north of Olivine Road and involved a 2017 Kia Optima and a 2019 Jeep Cherokee.
According to the CHP, Josie Stijepovic, 39, of Helendale was driving a Jeep Cherokee southbound on Old Woman Spring Road when she began passing a vehicle over double-yellow lines within the opposite lane and collided head-on with the Kia Optima.
The driver of the Optima identified only as a 36-year-old Twentynine Palms man was taken to High Desert Medical Center where he was declared dead.
A 33-year-old woman, also from Twentynine Palms, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was a passenger in the Kia.
Stijepovic was taken to Desert Medical Center with major injuries.
CHP officials said the cause of the crash was being investigated.
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Head-on collisions are car accidents that occur when two vehicles traveling in opposite directions collide. In most occasions, head-on car accidents are caused by one of the drivers travelling in the wrong direction or trying to pass traffic on a busy freeway. These types of vehicle accidents can be particularly severe due to the high speeds at which many vehicles travel on California roads.
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