4-Vehicle Crash Snarls 101 Traffic; Novato Man OK

A Novato man was OK after a multicar crash on northbound Highway 101 near Mill Valley on Monday morning, the California Highway Patrol said.

David Painter, 52, was driving his 2008 Hyundai Sante Fe in the No. 4 lane just north of the Tiburon exit when he collided with a Honda CRV that was attempting to cut across traffic after a spinout, Officer Eric Hohmeister said.

The Honda driver, Rebecca Morehouse, 67, of Corte Madera, had slammed on her brakes because of slowing traffic and spun seconds earlier while in the No. 1 (fast) lane. As attempted to point her Honda in the northbound direction again, she ventured into Painter's lane and was hit.

The SUVs of Painter and Morehouse both spun back into traffic and two other vehicles were struck, Hohmeister said. The driver of one of the cars, a 69-year-old woman, complained of neck pain and was taken to Kaiser hospital in Terra Linda. Painter, Morehouse and the third driver were uninjured.

None of the drivers involved appeared to be impaired by alcohol or drugs, the CHP said.

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