Updated Thursday, Feb. 21 – 4:50 pm
A car making a suspected right hand turn out of a country club at 268 Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica was struck at 12:22 pm Thursday afternoon by a vehicle traveling southbound on the PCH, which snarled traffic in downtown Santa Monica and forced major diversions.
All 10 Freeway westbound traffic was diverted to exit at the 4th/5th Street off ramp in downtown Santa Monica as both northbound PCH lanes and one southbound PCH lane were closed until about 2:45 pm.
SMPD Sgt. Richard Lewis said the accident only involved two vehicles. He said one of the parties was in critical condition; the other party has moderate to serious injuries.
“Both were transported to a local trauma center,” Lewis said.
Lewis said drugs and alcohol are not suspected from the initial investigation, but that’s subject to change.
The SMPD’s Major Traffic Accident Response Team are investigating the accident, Lewis said.