Emergency personnel attend to two injured people, who were airlifted to a hospital after their car hit a tree on La Barr Meadows Road Friday. (Photo by Doug Mattson)

Two people were airlifted after their vehicle crashed into a tree alongside La Barr Meadows Road just south of Grass Valley Friday night.

The driver, Robyn R. Keeling, 26, of Cedar Ridge, and an unidentified male passenger went by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with multiple injuries, said Officer Rod Rocha of the California Highway Patrol.

Their medical status wasn't immediately available.

Reported at 7:46 p.m., the crash occurred near the site of a May 28 fatal collision.

Rocha said Keeling was northbound in a 1983 Ford Bronco on La Barr Meadows when she drove onto the right shoulder, over-corrected her steering, skidded across the southbound lane, and slammed into a tree. Skid marks traced the Bronco's path, and it appeared the right front fender had wrapped around the tree. Shattered glass covered the scene.

Both were unconscious when witnesses first arrived, Rocha said, but they later slipped in and out of consciousness, and the man moaned loudly as he was moved into an ambulance.

One witness, 26-year-old Brooke Newby of Grass Valley, said the Bronco had passed her northbound Mustang farther south, near Rattlesnake Road.

"They were going really, really, really fast," Newby said.

The crash occurred in a 45 mph zone, but Rocha couldn't immediately estimate the Bronco's speed. He said neither occupant was wearing a seat belt.

Keeling and her passenger first went by Sierra Nevada Ambulance to the Pacific, Gas and Electric Co. helipad pad off McKnight Way.

Grass Valley police and Nevada County Sheriff's deputies blocked La Barr Meadows accesses at McKnight Way and Dog Barr Road. Grass Valley and Nevada County Consolidated Fire crews also responded. The road was cleared about 8:45 p.m.

The crash's cause remains under investigation.

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