Cheney driver critically injured after slamming into trailer-load of pipes

Whatever it was that led Karla Durangonzales to look down and to her left caused her a lot of pain and misery - and likely spared her life.

The 30-year-old Cheney resident was driving north on Second Street around 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning, April 9, when her car, a 1995 Honda Civic, drifted to the right and slammed head-on into a load of iron pipes loaded on a flatbed trailer hooked to a 2005 GMC pickup parked behind Mitchell's Harvest Foods. The pipes encased the car's cab, with several driven through the windshield and a couple exiting out the back window.

Cheney Police Chief John Hensley said early speculation on the cause of the accident was some form of inattention, although investigators appear to have ruled out texting, as Durangonzales' cellphone does not possess this feature. Hensley said there was a dog in the car at the time.

"She obviously took her eyes off the road and drifted into the parked vehicle," Hensley said.

When emergency personnel extracted Durangonzales from the vehicle she was coherent but seriously injured, including significant damage to the right side of her face and head. She was transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center where she spent nine hours in surgery.

Hensley said as of April 13, Durangonzales was still in the intensive care unit but was in stable condition. Investigators have not yet been able to speak with her since she has remained in an induced-coma since the surgery.

Hensley said it appeared she was not speeding, and there were no skid marks indicating she tried to apply brakes. He added that investigators had been able to contact Durangonzales' mother, who lives in Mexico, and that she is not an Eastern Washington University student.

"She's going to have a long road to recovery," he added.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].