A Maxwell woman driving the wrong way on Interstate 5 early Monday morning killed four people, including herself, after she crashed head on into another vehicle.
The CHP said Celeste Gonzales, 24, was driving her 2012 Nissan Altima northbound in the southbound lanes on Interstate 5 near the Maxwell rest area around 12:48 PM when her car crashed head-on with a 2022 Nissan, driven by 57-year-old Timothy E. McDaniels of Vacaville.
McDaniels and two of his three passengers, 28-year-old Quincy Lovelace of Suisun City, and 34-year-old Christopher Martinez of Suisun City were killed at the scene.
The fourth victim in McDaniels’ vehicle, 52-year-old David McDaniels of Suisun City, was life-flighted to Enloe Medical Center with major injuries.
The CHP said Gonzales’ speed at the time of the crash is unknown, and the investigation is ongoing to determine if alcohol or drugs were a factor. Impaired driving accounts for 58 percent of wrong-way crashes, according to the National Traffic Safety Board. In California, wrong-way collisions are rare, accounting for less than one-tenth of one percent of total highway collisions, but they typically result in fatalities due to the circumstances and the high speed of the vehicles involved, according to Caltrans.
Gonzales, who initially survived the collision, was placed under arrest on suspicion of DUI and transported to Enloe Medical Center in Chico by ground ambulance, but she later succumbed to her injuries, the CHP said.
Southbound I-5 was closed for approximately 8 hours between Maxwell and Williams, with traffic diverted onto Old Highway 99 W. â–