Driver reading email triggers collision

Traffic was backed up on Route 67 Wednesday morning after a pickup truck rear-ended a car just north of Dye Road, prompting a chain reaction and minor injuries to three people

At 6:45 a.m., the 51-year-old male driver of a 2003 Chevrolet 2500 pickup truck rear-ended a 2006 Nissan Altima as he was southbound on Route 67, said California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Kevin Pearlstein. The impact pushed the Altima into a Mini Cooper, which then hit a 2013 Lexus, he said.

According to CHP, the driver of the pickup truck, who is from Lakeside, said he was looking down at an email, driving 45 mph, and did not see traffic stopped.

He was uninjured, but the 44-year-old female driver of the Altima, a Ramona resident, was trapped in her car for 15 minutes until she could be extricated and was then transported by ambulance to Palomar Medical Center, the CHP officer said.

The 52-year-old male driver of the Mini Cooper and the 51-year-old female driver of the Lexus, both from Ramona, were taken by ambulance to Sharp Hospital in San Diego, according to reports.

The three drivers complained of pain to the lower back, Pearlstein said.