Caught hair blamed for rollover accident Caught hair blamed for rollover accident (June 23, 2004)

Four teens on their way to the Woodside High School graduation ceremony on June 18 were injured following a rollover accident on U.S. 101 near Marsh Road in Menlo Park.

The driver, a 16-year-old East Palo Alto resident, said she was trying to free her hair, which had become caught in the driver's side window, when she lost control of the Honda CRV sport utility vehicle at about 11 a.m., said California Highway Patrol public information officer Christian Oliver.

The driver was the only one wearing a seat belt, he said. Two of the passengers were ejected 20 feet from the SUV into other traffic lanes, said Mr. Oliver. Rescuers worked for 15 minutes to extricate the third passenger, an 18-year-old East Palo Alto man, with the "jaws of life," he said.

No other vehicles were involved. All four passengers were treated at the Stanford hospital for minor injuries, said Mr. Oliver.

Alcohol was found in the vehicle and whether it played a role in the incident is being investigated, said Mr. Oliver.

Highway patrol officials used the accident to stress the importance of wearing seat belts.

"From what I've seen, in other similar collisions, they should have died," investigating officer Tim Kelly said.

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