Rollover Accident in Ramona; Teen Taken to Palomar in Critical Condition

A 17-year-old was flown to Palomar Hospital in critical condition Sunday night after the vehicle he was traveling in flipped when it hit a boulder.

The accident happened at 6:45 p.m. on Vista Vicente Drive, off San Vicente Road, according to a spokesman for Ramona Fire Department in San Diego Country Estates.

The 16-year-old driver is reported to have swerved to avoid hitting a rabbit that ran across the road. The fire department reports that the vehicle slammed head-on into a boulder and the back of the car flipped over the front, so that the vehicle lay on its roof.

When paramedics arrived at the scene, the passenger was going in and out of consciousness after sustaining a head injury, according to the fire department.

The driver was released to his parents. He was able to get out of the vehicle on his own after sustaining scrapes and scratches.

The passenger, who had been wearing his seat belt, was pulled out of the vehicle by a pedestrian, the fire department reports.

The Sheriff's Department and Highway Patrol also responded to the accident.

Names were not released because of the age of the young men. No further information on the condition of the passenger was available Monday.

This is the second rollover accident in the Country Estates area in just over two weeks, in which the driver swerved to avoid an animal and then sustained major injuries. .

The fire department warns drivers not to swerve for animals due to the potential risk.

In March, of Ramona, on San Vicente Road.