Trooper: Disaster averted in crash

EL JEBEL An El Jebel woman was “very fortunate” to suffer only a broken collarbone Monday when her SUV rolled three times after a collision on Highway 82 near the Blue Lake subdivision, a state trooper said.Dorothy Fearon, 57, was heading downvalley around 8:15 a.m. when another SUV attempted to pull from the median onto the Blue Lake entrance road on J.W. Drive, according to the accident report.

It appears that Fearon pulled from the left lane of westbound Highway 82 into the right lane to avoid the vehicle crossing in front of her, said Trooper Brent Butler.The right front end of a Jeep Cherokee driven by Katherine Diamond, 41, of Basalt, struck Fearon’s Ford Explorer and spun it sideways onto the shoulder and ditch. Fearon’s vehicle rolled three times and came to rest in the right ditch. Diamond’s SUV came to rest on J.W. Drive.The accident easily could have been a direct T-bone collision resulting in more serious injuries, according to Butler. “They were fortunate it happened that way, if you can be fortunate in an accident,” he said.

Basalt firefighters had to extricate Fearon from her vehicle. She was taken to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, where she was treated for a broken collarbone, Butler said.Diamond was not injured, according to the report. Butler said Diamond told him she looked twice for oncoming traffic before pulling out. He said he believes the glare of the sun played a role in the accident.

There is no traffic signal at the intersection, which is one of two routes in and out of Blue Lake, a high-density residential area.”That intersection is notorious for accidents,” Butler said.Diamond received a citation for careless driving causing bodily injury.