GRAVEL TRUCK, THREE CARS IN COLLISION SIX INJURED IN CRASHES ON PEARBLOSSOM.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Special to the Daily News

PALMDALE -- Six people were injured Friday morning in a hit-and-run crash involving four vehicles that caused a major traffic backup on Pearblossom Highway.

Sheriff's deputies on the scene said an unidentified driver of a white gravel truck traveling east on Pearblossom Highway near 50th Street East rear-ended a 2005 Honda Accord about 8:35 a.m. The collision knocked the Honda into oncoming westbound traffic, where it was hit by a 2003 Ford Focus and a 1997 Ford Explorer.

All four passengers of the Honda were injured, including a backseat passenger who was airlifted to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills with severe facial cuts and a neck injury.

The drivers of the Focus and Explorer suffered injuries, too. Remarkably, a small child who was a passenger in the Focus was unharmed.

The collisions caused traffic on Pearblossom Highway to be backed up for about a mile.

``It's a mess,'' sheriff's Deputy Jon Hoyt said.

Deputy Bernie Hoene said the incident could have been much worse, especially considering the right rear of the Honda collapsed.

``The newer cars are designed to take this kind of impact,'' Hoene said.

Hoene said none of the drivers was traveling over the 60 mph posted speed limit.

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(1 -- 2) Firefighters and medics load a victim of a traffic collision -- one that injured six people on Pearblossom Highway -- into a helicopter on Friday.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer