CALTRANS NEWS
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Worker’s sharp eye leads to rescue
© Crescent City Daily Triplicate
By Cornelia de Bruin
Triplicate staff writer
The observant eye of a Caltrans worker led to the rescue of a Klamath woman whose car plummeted down an embankment off U.S. Highway 101 last December.
Michiko Kramer, 78, was driving northbound on Highway 101 south of Crescent City when her vehicle drifted to the side of the road and hit the embankment.
Kramer was not injured in the accident.
According to the accident report the California Highway Patrol compiled from emergency responders, the collision caused Kramer’s car to veer to the left where it went off the west edge of the roadway and plunged about 150 feet down a steep embankment.
Caltrans employee Michael Lucas was returning from his lunch break when he spotted debris on the roadway and stopped to look further.
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Michael Lucas |
Although Lucas did not see anything, he alerted first responders who spotted a dome light shining through the rain and fog.
Two hours later, Del Norte County Search and Rescue, Crescent City Fire Protection District and Del Norte Ambulance personnel had assisted Kramer back up the hill and were assessing her condition.
“The Caltrans worker did the right thing,” said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Hablitzel. “She (Kramer) said she was fine and didn’t want to go to the hospital.”
(This article was reprinted with permission from the publisher of the Crescent City Daily Triplicate newspaper.)