A car accident stopped traffic in both directions outside of Los Medanos College on East Leland Road for almost eight hours Monday morning, severely impacting students during peak class hours.

The driver hit a tree in the road’s median, ejecting one passenger and trapping the driver while a toddler was found secured in a child safety seat. Latest statements from the Pittsburg Police Department’s Facebook page stated that three were in “critical, but stable condition.”

LMC Senior Traffic Officer Mike Hotton shut down the road around 7:20 a.m. resulting in subsequent traffic flow interruptions throughout the day.  
Police services responded to the accident’s impact on motorists in front of LMC. Their job was to “come out and help and divert traffic through the campus, because no traffic was flowing either direction,” said Hotton.  

The road didn’t open up again until around 3 p.m. when investigators finished up at the scene. Students who had classes in the morning and later in the day found themselves running late to class.

“I got to like the front and I was turning and it was kind of blocked off… Once I got a little bit closer I saw a car and it was hecka damaged,” said LMC student Diana Felipe about her morning commute.

She was surprised to find the road was still closed when she got out of class at 11 a.m.

Though the causes of the crash are still being investigated Pittsburg PD encourages drivers to be cautious during wet road conditions.