I-15 Crash Leaves Four injured

Four people were injured in Lake Elsinore Friday afternoon in a high-speed rollover crash that was caused by a floor jack in the roadway.

The crash occurred around 3:25 p.m. on the southbound I-15, just south of Temescal Canyon Road.

The wreck happened after the driver of a black BMW saw a floor jack in the road in front of her. She swerved, but hit the jack anyway, causing her steering to fail, according to CHP Officer Mark Hendrickson.

The car veered into a Chevrolet truck, sending both vehicles rolling off the freeway and down a 100-foot embankment, Hendrickson said.

The occupants of both vehicles were rushed to a hospital. The passenger of the Chevrolet was in critical condition today, according to the CHP.

Two female victims in the BMW, both of Temecula, and the driver of the truck sustained minor injuries, according to the CHP.

The truck passenger was originally going to be flown to a hospital via helicopter, but the wait was more than half an hour, so an ambulance took him, according to the Riverside County Fire Department Captain James McMillan.

This could have been avoided had the owner of the jack secured it properly, McMillan said.

"You should not have any loose objects in the bed of your truck. Everything should be in a trunk or properly strapped down," he said.

Luckily, all the victims were wearing seatbelts, Hendrickson said. "Everyone did everything correctly. That's why no one was killed," he said. Seat belts and air bags did their job."