OAKHURST — A single-vehicle accident involving a power pole closed Highway 49 in both directions just south of Goldside for over two hours this evening.
At 8:45 p.m., a resident in the area called 911 to report they had heard a crash.
When first responders arrived at the scene, they found a car upside down on the west side of the road, about 20 feet over the embankment.
According to the driver – a 48-year-old woman from Mariposa – she was northbound on Highway 49 in a 1995 Toyota Avalon when an oncoming driver failed to dim their lights, making it difficult for her to see the roadway.
Her right-side tires caught the concrete curb, causing her to veer across the road and drive off the embankment, hitting a guy wire on a power pole as the car overturned.
The damage to the pole brought the wires down across the roadway, which was closed in both directions.
The driver found herself hanging upside down by her shoulder belt, but was able to free herself from the vehicle. The neighbors across the road who heard the crash came to her aid, along with two young women who were passing by.
The driver apologized repeatedly for all the trouble she had caused due to the road closure, and though she suffered some cuts and scrapes to her left arm, she was otherwise uninjured.
Those who know the local roads chose various detours to get around the crash scene; some went back into Oakhurst to do some shopping, while other chose to just wait it out.
PG&E responded to the scene to make needed repairs, and one-lane traffic control was put in place at about 10:30 p.m.
The roadway was reopened just after 11 p.m.
There was no indication from CHP that drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident.
