PALM DESERT: One hospitalized after vehicle plunges off Hwy. 74

PALM DESERT — A motorist had to be cut free from their wrecked vehicle after plunging down a steep and rugged embankment along Hwy. 74, in an unincorporated area south of Palm Desert earlier tonight. The victim was hospitalized with moderate injuries, according to fire officials.

Emergency first responders were dispatched to an area near Hwy. 74’s Mile Marker 89 along the Roy Wilson Memorial Highway, shortly after 9:30 p.m., after being notified regarding a solo-vehicle accident, according to a California Highway Patrol Incident Log.

Callers told CHP dispatchers the accident involved a car that went over the side and down an embankment, north of the Coachella Valley Vista Point. It was not immediately known which direction the vehicle was traveling before it left the roadway.

Fourteen firefighters from three engine companies and one truck company responded to the scene of the accident, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire spokesperson Tawny Cabral explained in an incident report. They were assisted by a Paramedic Squad.

“The first arriving engine company reported a single vehicle, approximately 40 feet over the side with one occupant in the vehicle,” said Cabral. “Firefighters extricated the victim and the victim was transported to an area hospital by ground ambulance with moderate injuries.”

CHP’s investigation into the collision is active and ongoing.

 

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Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.