Carson City High School student Heather Stevens, 17, remained in intensive care with serious injuries Monday following an accident that also sent her friends Stacy Shaw and Francisco Fuentes, both 17 and from Carson, to the hospital Sunday afternoon.
The three were driving west on Highway 50 in Dayton when their car was hit at 2:40 p.m. head-on by a Silver Springs man at the intersection at Six Mile Canyon Road. All were taken by Care Flight to Washoe Medical Center in Reno with serious injuries, the Nevada Highway Patrol reported. All were wearing seat belts.
Shaw was listed in fair condition Monday, said hospital spokeswoman Judy Davis. Davis was unable to find information about Fuentes, and his condition is unknown, she said.
The 1999 Toyota sedan driven by Shaw was traveling about 55 mph west on Highway 50 when it was struck at the intersection of Six Mile Canyon Road by Michael Hudgins, 20, of Silver Springs, said NHP Trooper Troy Lindley.
Hudgins, driving a 2001 Dodge truck, was turning left onto east Highway 50 and didn't see Shaw's car because it was traveling behind a truck pulling a boat trailer, Lindley said. Hudgins pulled onto the highway in front of Shaw.
"He didn't see the car behind the boat trailer," Lindley said. "He pulled out and hit the Toyota with the left front corner of his truck head-on."
Hudgins was cited for failing to yield to oncoming traffic from a stop sign. He and his three passengers were not injured. All were wearing seat belts, and alcohol was not a factor in the accident, Lindley said.
Stevens recently talked to the Appeal during a mock funeral performed at Carson High School in April. The mock funeral was given for 32 students as part of the Every 15 Minutes program, which is designed to discourage drinking and driving.
"When it happens like this, you don't get a chance to say good-bye," Stevens told the Appeal while she watched the mock funeral and wiped away tears.
"There's a lot you still want to say," she said at the time. "It has changed me."
