Officer Hit By Car Hydroplaning Across Freeway
Hoag Suffered Two Broken Legs, Other Injuries
POSTED: 9:38 a.m. PST January 11, 2005
UPDATED: 10:01 a.m. PST January 11, 2005
Story by 10News.com
SAN DIEGO -- A 49-year-old California Highway Patrol officer was being treated Tuesday for two broken legs and other serious injuries he suffered when he was struck by an out-of-control vehicle on Interstate 5.
The accident occurred shortly after 12 p.m. Monday on rain-soaked I-5 in the San Onofre area, near the Orange County line, CHP Officer Tom Kerns said.
Officer Gary Hoag, a 23-year-CHP veteran, was assisting motorist Nicole Marshall, 28, of Oceanside, whose 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee struck a guardrail on the right shoulder of the freeway after she hydroplaned, Kerns said.
A short time later, a 2001 Honda Civic driven by Rachel Marie Duncan, 21, of Hemet, hydroplaned, struck the center divider, then slid across the freeway and hit Hoag, pinning him against Marshall's Jeep, Kerns said.
Hoag was taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where he was treated for his broken legs and other serious injuries, Kerns said. He is expected to survive.
Marshall and Duncan were taken to a San Clemente hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released, Kerns said.
Duncan was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when she struck Hoag, but she was driving 65 to 70 mph on the rain-slicked freeway, Kerns said.
"The accident is still under investigation and we don't know if she will be cited yet," Kern said. "She was traveling at what's considered to be an unsafe speed for wet conditions. High speeds on wet roads leads to hydroplaning."
Damn, only 1 year from retirement too.