Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Bolinas Woman Killed in West Marin Crash

BMW slams tree on Highway 1, killing 48-year-old Barbara Rothwell; 7-year-old passenger OK.

A Bolinas woman was killed Wednesday when she crashed her car on southbound Highway 1 a few miles north of Bolinas, according to law enforcement officials.

The Coroner's Division of the Marin County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that 48-year-old Barbara Rothwell died in the single-car crash. A Bolinas Fire Department crew extricated the woman from the black 1989 BMW 325i she was driving and she was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Sheriff's Lt. Keith Boyd.

California Highway Patrol officer Eric Hohmeister said an emergency call was received at about 8:15 p.m. for a vehicle off the road about a half mile north of the junction of Highway 1 and Olema-Bolinas Road. First responders found that the driver was heading south when it crossed the double-yellow line and crashed down an embankment on the east side of the road, Hohmeister said. The sedan slammed a tree and came to rest on its tires about 15 feet off the road.

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The driver's side door and the front section of the car sustained the heaviest damage, according to the report.

Rothwell's 7-year-old son was also in the car at the time of the crash. He got out of the car and walked about a half-mile to a house where the residents called 911, CHP Officer Patrick Roth said. The boy suffered minor injuries, was released to a parent and was taken to Marin General Hospital, Hohmeister said.

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The cause of the collision is still under investigation, Hohmeister said.

--Bay City News Service contributed to this report.


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