A wrong-way driver headed north Sunday night in the southbound lanes of Interstate Highway 280 near the Daly City-San Francisco border was injured and subsequently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The wrong-way driver, a man in his 30s, sideswiped an Acura SUV headed south on I-280, leaving that driver and his 7-year-old son with minor injuries, before his own car crashed a short distance north, said CHP Officer Bert Diaz.
The CHP got the first report of the wrong-way driver in a Mazda sedan at 8:49 p.m. Sunday, as he passed northbound under John Daly Boulevard on southbound I-280, Diaz said. The Mazda sideswiped the SUV near where State
Highway 1 breaks off from I-280, and the Mazda crashed into the center divider of Highway 1 near the Alemany Boulevard overcrossing, Diaz said.
The wrong-way driver suffered serious cuts on his head, and was taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital for treatment. He was also arrested on suspicion of DUI, Diaz said.
The father and son in the Acura complained of pain but were not hospitalized, Diaz said.
It wasn't clear how far the Mazda had been driving in the wrong direction before reaching John Daly Boulevard, said Diaz, adding that the outcome could have been far worse.
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"Anytime there's a wrong-way driver, there are never good things happening," he said. "These calls are often fatal, and there were no fatalities tonight."