1 killed, 3 injured in head-on crash in Sonoma County, CHP says

SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. -- One man died and a mother and two of her children were hospitalized with major injuries after a head-on collision Friday afternoon on state Highway 121 in Sonoma County.

The woman was driving northbound near Sonoma Raceway, just north of the 121 and state Highway 37 intersection, with her 15-year-old son in the front passenger seat and 11-year-old daughter in the rear driver's side passenger seat.

A man driving southbound in a Lexus RX-450h SUV allegedly went across the double yellow lines and into the northbound lane, directly hitting the family's Toyota Venza SUV and causing the Lexus to burst into flames, according to the CHP.

Firefighters extinguished the fire and extricated all parties from the vehicles, before all were hospitalized with major injuries. The man who was driving the Lexus was declared dead at a Napa County hospital about an hour after the collision.

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The highway was shut down for about a half hour and ran with one-way controls for about an hour, the CHP said.

The man's identity will be released by the Napa County Coroner after his next of kin is notified.