CHP Incident: Major Injuries for Distracted Driver on Highway 36

The California Highway Patrol has released information relating to a traffic collision that occurred Sunday afternoon on Highway 36 west of Susanville and tied up traffic on the roadway for more than an hour.

According to the CHP report the driver of a 2012 Toyota Camry, identified as 39 year-old Burney resident Samantha Britoncaudle, was stopped at the intersection of Highway 44 and Highway 36.

Myeisha Shepard, a 19 year-old Susanville resident was traveling westbound on 36 in a 2016 Nissan Rogue at approximately 55 MPH.

Britoncaudle told CHP that she was distracted by the large fire and smoke of the Willard Fire burning nearby and made a left turn onto Highway 36 directly into the path of the oncoming Nissan.

The front of Shepard’s vehicle struck the right side of Britoncaudle’s Toyota. Both vehicles sustained major damage.

The two drivers were transported to area hospitals, Britoncaudle suffered major injuries and Shephard received moderate injuries in the crash.

As a reminder, the CHP encourages driver’s to pay attention to their surroundings at all times.