Another cow causes Highway 24 wreck

Three people were hospitalized after a car struck a cow and then was hit by another vehicle on eastbound state Highway 24 in Orinda early Wednesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash was reported at 12:17 a.m. on eastbound Highway 24 between Fish Ranch and Wilder roads, CHP Officer Brandon Correia said.

The cow was killed upon impact and the three people in the two cars involved in the crash were taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek with minor injuries such as cuts, abrasions and complaints of pain, Correia said.

The road reopened relatively quickly after the vehicles and animal were removed from the lanes, he said.

The crash is the second caused by a cow on the loose on Highway 24 in Orinda since late June.

On the afternoon of June 26, a two-vehicle collision was reported near the off-ramp to Camino Pablo and was apparently the result of a cow running across the roadway, according to the CHP.

Correia did not have any information this morning on whether the two cases were related.