On Friday, August 26, 2011, at 7:07 p.m., the Redding Police Department received multiple reports of a traffic collision with vehicles on fire on Twin View Boulevard at the I-5 freeway overcrossing. Redding PD officers, CHP officers, and the Redding Fire Department responded. They found two vehicles – a Toyota RAV4 and a Honda motorcycle – had been in a collision. Both vehicles were fully engulfed by fire, but their drivers had escaped. The Redding Fire Department was quickly able to put out the fire.
The investigation determined that the motorcycle was eastbound on Twin View prior to the collision. The Toyota RAV4 was westbound on Twin View, intending to turn left onto the southbound on-ramp of I-5. The driver of the Toyota RAV4, Donna Gardener, 58 years of Happy Valley, Oregon, did not see the oncoming motorcycle and turned in front of it. The driver of the motorcycle, David Admiral, 47 years of Redding, did not have time to avoid a collision.
The Toyota RAV4 collided nearly head-on with the motorcycle, pushing it onto the on-ramp. The collision pinned the motorcycle under the front of the car, apparently causing the motorcycle’s fuel tank to rupture. A fire started from the spilled gasoline, which eventually destroyed both vehicles. Admiral had lacerations to his face and was transported to a local hospital by ambulance. Admiral had been wearing a helmet. Gardener’s granddaughter, Jade Rowland, 8 years of Central Valley, was a passenger in her car. Gardener and Rowland were wearing seatbelts and were not injured.
Further investigation by officers at the hospital determined Admiral was driving under the influence of a controlled substance. Admiral was subsequently arrested for DUI (although not at fault for the collision), possession/transportation of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Due to his need for medical treatment, Admiral was released at the hospital.
Gardener was found at fault for the collision and cited for making an unsafe left turn.
-from press release
A News Cafe, founded in Shasta County by Redding, CA journalist Doni Greenberg, is the place for people craving local Northern California news, commentary, food, arts and entertainment. Views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of anewscafe.com.
