A California Highway Patrol officer inspects a car involved in an accident Sept. 28. Photo by: Bill Lavallie

A dirt bike accident on Sept. 27 brought one of CALSTAR's helicopters flying into Pioneer from Westover Field.

The rider of the motor bike was a man who lived in the Pine Grove area. According to witnesses, his ride ended badly when his throttle got stuck and he was propelled toward a chain link fence. Hoping to avoid impact with the fence, he leaned the bike over into the ground. In the process of stopping himself, he hit his head against the ground. He was not wearing a helmet. Firefighters from Amador Fire Protection District and paramedics from American Legion responded to the crisis and aided the rider until CALSTAR landed in a field in Pine Grove Camp. The rider was flown to Mercy San Juan Hospital with serious head trauma.

An Orangevale woman saw red a little too long Sept. 28 while cruising on the treacherous turns of Latrobe Road. Laurie Lewis, 45, was driving her 2005 Nissan on the isolated connection between Plymouth and El Dorado Hills around 6:50 p.m. when she became embroiled in a heated argument with her boyfriend via a hands-free device on her cell phone. As tempers flared, Lewis became distracted. An investigation by the California Highway Patrol showed that Lewis failed to negotiate the end of a left turn, causing her Nissan to drift into the oncoming lane. Lewis panicked and jerked her steering wheel hard in the other direction - thus losing control of her vehicle. Lewis hit the northbound shoulder of the road and flipped her car. She told emergency responders at the scene that she had no injuries.