Sleepy Driver Causes Major Highway 1 Collision

If you were trying to make your way north on Highway 1 this afternoon from mid to north-Santa Cruz County, you probably weren't moving too quickly.

That's because at 11:27 a.m., a drowsy Juliet Olmos, 23, of Santa Cruz, was driving her BMW in the left lane northbound approaching the State Park Drive exit into Aptos, drifted into the center concrete divider and back into the right lane, where she collided with a red 2003 Ford Explorer. The Explorer was forced off the road and into an embankment, where it was stopped by a tree.

Gary Alfred Carlton, 66, and Christine Carol Cartlon, 65, of Salinas, the driver and passenger of the Explorer, both sustained major injuries.

According to the CHP collision report, "Gary was transported by a CalStar ambulance to Valley Medical Center, and Christine was transported by a Life Flight helicopter to Stanford Medical Center."

Olmos survived the incident unharmed. 

Both directions of traffic were temporarily shut down so the injured could be taken to medical facilities. All lanes were up and running again at 1:49 p.m.