Highway 174 accident sends elderly couple to hospital

An elderly couple was taken to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital with unknown injuries after their vehicle crossed the double yellow line on Highway 174, sideswiping a pickup truck carrying a horse trailer late Friday afternoon, according to the CHP.

The man and woman, in their 80s, were heading north on Highway 174 near Mosswood Lane at 4:30 p.m. when they struck the vehicle heading south carrying two horses, California Highway Patrol Officer Randy Corbett said.

The Ford pickup and trailer jack-knifed, and the horse trailer careened off the road.

The couple in the horse trailer, Grant and Brittney Strong, were uninjured, but one of the two horses suffered a shoulder injury and was having some trouble with a leg, Grant Strong said. The condition of the second horse could not immediately be determined.

"Speed doesn't seem to be an issue," Corbett said. He didn't know why the vehicle crossed the double yellow line, he added.

Air bags went off in the elderly couple's Lexus sport utility vehicle, Corbett said. He was "pretty sure" the injured couple were wearing seat belts, he added.

Brittney Strong, who is pregnant, was driving the pickup, according to an eyewitness.

Traffic heading both directions was backed up for nearly an hour and 15 minutes, as CHP and emergency personnel tended to the injured couple and cleared the scene.

The accident remains under investigation.

ooo

Staff photographer John Hart contributed to this story. To contact Staff Writer Greg Moberly, e-mail gregm@theunion.com or call 477-4234.