Hwy 1 wrong-way crash kills one, seriously injures four

A wrong-way driver died after causing a head-on crash that injured four other people on state Highway 1 in unincorporated Santa Cruz County late Wednesday night, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The man who died was a 30-year-old Greenfield resident who was speeding north in a southbound lane of Highway 1 south of Vista Point at about 11:35 p.m., CHP officials said.

A 35-year-old East Palo Alto man driving south in that southbound lane in a 2006 Ford Mustang was unable to avoid a collision with the Dodge. The Dodge driver was taken to Watsonville Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the CHP. His name has not yet been released.

Two women, Greenfield residents ages 25 and 27, were passengers in the Dodge and emergency crews took them to Natividad Medical Center in Salinas with major injuries. The Ford driver and his passenger, a 47-year-old Watsonville man, were taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, also with major injuries.

Southbound Highway 1 was closed in the area for about three hours while officers investigated the crash. Investigators believe impairment may have been a factor, according to the CHP.