Three women were hospitalized with minor injuries Wednesday after a head-on collision on the Golden Gate Bridge during the tail end of the morning commute, CHP and media sources reported.
Two southbound cars driven by San Francisco residents collided at about 8:10 a.m. just north of the bridge's north anchorage, said CHP officer Eric Hohmeister. A Tiburon woman heading northbound then struck the other two cars.
A Sig-alert was issued at 8:19 a.m. and traffic began to back up in both directions. First responders from the Marin side of the bridge were directed to use Alexander Drive rather than 101 because of the traffic backup. A fire/medic crew requested CHP escorts to make its way through the backup.
Only minor injuries were reported in the crash, according to the
CHP. The Tiburon woman, Julia Russell, 25, was taken to Marin General Hospital along with her passenger, Lauren Cooper, 26.
The San Francisco drivers were identified as Xing Lin, 32, and Victoria Seils, 30, the CHP said. Seils as taken to Kaiser hospital in San Francisco with a minor injury and Xing was unhurt.
Debris scattered across the bridge. From 8:42 to 9:05, all lanes in both directions were blocked so that tow trucks could remove the damaged cars and wreckage, Hohmeister said.
The SIG alert was cancelled at 9:05 a.m. and the roadway reopened, but several television stations continued to show the backup on the morning news. Officer Ross Ingels said there were several stalled vehicles in both directions that prolonged the traffic issues. The southbound stalls were moved to the highway shoulder but the northbound ones on the bridge had to be towed.
Southbound lanes started flowing at about 9:05 a.m. but northbound traffic at the toll plaza remained halted at 9:25 a.m because of the stalls, Hohmeister said.
There were four southbound lanes open on the bridge and two northbound at the time of the crash. There was no center buffer lane.
— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
