The Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad transported the driver and passenger of one car to Adirondack Medical Center down the road. The driver of the other car, a Saranac Lake resident, signed off, declining medical attention after the collision, according to Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brendan Keough.

State police Sgt. April Strack said it looked like that uninjured driver was passing another vehicle.

“Based on the way that the cars are sitting and based on the statements that [the driver] made … he was passing an uninvolved vehicle, and when he came out into traffic, obviously he didn’t see this far and had a head-on collision,” Strack said.

The stretch of road where the collision took place has a double-yellow line indicating it is a no-passing zone. Passing in a no-passing zone is a violation.

A head-on collision between two cars this afternoon on state Route 86, south of Donnelly’s Corners, resulted in the hospitalization of the driver and passenger of one car and the temporary closure of the highway between Route 186 to Trudeau Road. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

According to Strack, head-on collisions are not common but are usually caused by passing in no-passing zones.

“Unfortunately, it’s a pretty run-of-the-mill head-on collision,” she said.

The uninjured driver declined comment.

No extraction was needed to remove people from the vehicles.

“Modern-day car technology is phenomenal,” Keough said. “The way the cars are designed, they absorb the impact.”

A head-on collision between two cars this afternoon on state Route 86, south of Donnelly’s Corners, resulted in the hospitalization of the driver and passenger of one car and the temporary closure of the highway between Route 186 to Trudeau Road. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

The Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department responded to the collision at 4:12 p.m. with one truck and nine members. The Paul Smiths-Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department helped shut down Route 86 at state Route 186, and the Saranac Lake Police Department helped shut Route 86 down at its intersection with Trudeau Road.