Kurt Hildebrand/Nevada Appeal News Service Nevada Highway Patrol troopers confer about an accident that occurred 7 a.m. Friday morning about seven miles up Kingsbury Grade from the intersection with Foothill Road. The accident involved three vehicles inculding a Nevada Department of Transportation snowplow and closed the grade for 3 1/2 hours.
Three people were injured in an accident that closed Kingsbury Grade for 3 1/2 hours on Friday morning.
The accident occurred at about 7 a.m. when a gold Toyota 4 Runner driven by Martin Ruiz, 21, of Gardnerville, lost control of his vehicle in a turn and went into a spin.
The Toyota clipped the back of a snowplow driving up the mountain and then careened into a Ford Aerostar van driven by Gardnerville resident Stephen Davis, 33. The Toyota hit the Ford head-on.
Ruiz was flow by Care Flight to Renown Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released.
He was booked into Douglas County jail on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving without proof of insurance.
A passenger in the Toyota, Todd Holden of South Lake Tahoe, was taken to Carson Valley Medical Center where he was treated and released. Davis was taken to Barton Memorial Hospital and is in stable condition.
The driver of the Nevada Department of Transportation snowplow, William Straw, 55, of Gardnerville, said he saw the Toyota enter the curve and begin to slow, but it was too late.
Straw estimated Ruiz's speed at 65-70 mph.
Neither Straw, nor his passenger, Chad Bowling, 33, of Gardnerville, were injured in the accident.
Kingsbury Grade was closed for more than three hours while the accident was investigated and cleared. The highway reopened at 10:36 a.m.