Española teen killed in highway crash

ESPAÑOLA, N.M. (KRQE) - A near-head-on collision on U.S. Highway 84/285 north of Española killed a teenage driver and shut down the four-lane road Thursday afternoon..

The Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Department said Veronica Martinez, 17, died in the 1 p.m. crash.  She was identified as living in the Española area.

The other driver, whose name has not been released, suffered minor injuries, according to a sheriff's spokesman.

According to investigators Martinez was southbound on U.S. 84/285 about a mile north of Española when her car crossed the median and hit a northbound vehicle.

Aerial video from KRQE News 13 Skyranger showed a vehicle on its roof in the middle of the northbound lane and a car upright and smashed against a guardrail.

Shortly before 5 p.m. the New Mexico Department of Transportation reported U.S. 84/285--also known as the Chama Highway--remained closed from Española to Hernandez with traffic detoured onto County Road 0115.  The highway reopened sometime later.