Calif. Woman High on Drugs Injures 3 in Wrong-Way Bay Bridge Wreck

Nov. 10--A woman who was high on drugs and driving the wrong direction on the Bay Bridge slammed head-on into another motorist Saturday night, causing a major wreck that injured three people and backed up traffic for hours, the California Highway Patrol said.

The driver, identified as 32-year-old Karrie Lyn Morgan of Vacaville, got on the bridge near the toll plaza and began driving westbound in the eastbound lanes just before 8:30 p.m., the CHP said in a statement.

Other drivers immediately called police reporting a vehicle heading the wrong direction on the bridge. Morgan then collided with another driver before sideswiping two other vehicles just east of Treasure Island, according to the CHP.

Paramedics took three people, including Morgan, to San Francisco General Hospital. One of the drivers had major injuries. Authorities did not identify the other victims in the collision.

All eastbound lanes of the bridge were closed for 15 minutes while crews rushed emergency equipment to the scene. The right two lanes were later opened to ease some of the traffic backup, and all lanes were reopened by 10:15 p.m.

Drivers who were stuck in the gridlock used social media to express their frustrations.

"Usually takes 40 mins to get home over the Bay Bridge," Ian Holmes wrote on Twitter. "Took 2.5 hrs. this evening."

Morgan was treated for minor injuries and then booked in the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs while causing injury to another, and driving without a license.

Authorities are investigating how Morgan's vehicle entered the eastbound lanes in the wrong direction.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky

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