Cathy Perfect
Kern Valley Sun

A Lake Isabella woman escaped certain fatal injury, according to the California Highway Patrol, when her car veered off Hwy. 178 near Piney Point last Tuesday morning.

At approximately 11:00 a.m. Dec. 30, Shirley L. Venegas, 57, of Lake Isabella was driving eastbound on Hwy. 178 at Piney Point at an unknown rate of speed, negotiating a right hand curve. Personnel from Fire Station 71 in Southlake were returning from a medical aid call and noticed some skid marks on the road, reported Sean Collins, Public Information Officer for the Kern County Fire Department. The crew investigated the skid marks and found the SUV vehicle skidded off the roadway and overturned multiple times over large boulders and landed approximately 275 feet from the road, near the water's edge of Isabella Lake.

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The crew hiked down rugged terrain and found Venegas still trapped in the vehicle.

When the crew found her she had sustained moderate injuries to her left shoulder, but was alert and conscious, Collins said.

In assessing the precarious rescue situation, options for extricating Venegas from the severely damaged vehicle and then transporting her to the Medevac helicopter that was en route were discussed.

“At first, we were going to use a ropes system,” said Engineer Matt Dixon, who was on duty at Station 76 in Kernville. “Then one of the CARE (Ambulance) paramedics suggested using the Lake Patrol to transport the patient. The captain (Mike Heffner) called Marc Henry at Lake Patrol to see if they were available. They were and so they sped to the scene.”

After extricating Venegas from the vehicle, she was transferred to the Lake Patrol boat and taken to the South Fork Recreation area. She was then transferred to a local ambulance and then transferred her to an awaiting Air Ambulance. She was transported to KMC with major injuries by the Air Ambulance.

According to the CHP, Venegas allowed the vehicle's right tires to drift off the roadway onto the south dirt shoulder. In an attempt to redirect her vehicle into the eastbound lane, Venegas turned sharply to the left. In doing so, Venegas overcorrected and lost control of her 2006 Saturn Vue. Her vechicle skidded off the roadway and off the shoulder, coming to rest at the lakeshore near Piney Point on Hwy. 178.

Black ice and/or frost were not present on the roadway at the time of the colision and were not a factor in this collision despite speculation, according to the CHP.

The steering wheel air bag and both the front and rear driver side air bag curtains did deploy on the vehicle. This vehicle was also equipped with the “On Star” system which had also notified the CHP. Venegas escaped certain fatal injury due to the fact that she was properly wearing her lap/shoulder harness.

There were no reported injuries to Firefighters.