A Sonoma resident was pronounced dead at the scene early Tuesday morning after a head-on collision with another car on Highway 121 just south of Sonoma.
Brian Steiner, 32, died at around 5:10 a.m. He was driving southbound on Highway 121 just south of Maffei Road when he crossed over the double yellow lines marked on the road. His 1993 Ford Escort collided head-on with a 2000 Toyota Corolla that was going in the opposite direction.
Police said that the impact of the crash killed Steiner almost immediately. Meanwhile, the driver of the Corolla, 63-year-old Nadine Birden, was taken to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, where she is being treated for what police are calling “moderate injuries.”
Police also said that Steiner was wearing his safety belt improperly and that he had not used the lap belt on his passive restraint system. That specific model of Ford Escort had a lap restraint that was separate from the shoulder strap.
Weather at the time of the crash was cold and rainy, but police are still investigating the cause of the accident.
