SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- Three children who were seriously injured in a vehicle crash on southbound U.S. Highway 101 near Windsor that killed their mother Thursday night are recovering at Children's Hospital in Oakland.

Jesus Jimenez, 11, and Luis Angel Jimenez, 5, are in fair condition and their brother Fabiola Jimenez, 9, is in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon.

The children managed to escape through a window of the 1995 Dodge Caravan that drove into the center median area of the highway, which contained construction equipment for the eight-mile widening of the highway between Steele Lane in Santa Rosa and central Windsor, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Robert Mota said.

Driver Elucina Moyado Guevara, 39, was killed in the crash. The van caught fire when it struck a raised concrete barrier in the center median where a bridge was being built over a drainage ditch.

The Santa Rosa family was returning from a visit with a relative in Windsor, Mota said.

Mota said the CHP is still talking to witnesses to the crash, including a woman who contacted the CHP Tuesday.

Mota acknowledged the crash has raised public concerns about the safety of the highway that is under construction, including the site of the crash north of Shiloh Road where the highway bends to the right. Portions of the highway contain new and old pavement and the road narrows in areas bordered by concrete K-rails.

The speed limit through the construction zone is 55 mph but many drivers do not adhere to it.

Mota said there were 136 accidents along the eight-mile stretch of road last year and 107 so far this year. Between June 1 and mid-August, the CHP has written 240 citations, the majority for speeding, in the construction zone, Mota said.

"It is a construction zone that is clearly marked," Mota said. Closing the area's major north-south artery during the widening project is not an option, he said.

Why Guevara drove into the center median area is part of the investigation, Mota said.

"Why was she the only one that did this? Was she distracted? There are too many factors," Mota said.

Work in the center median at the crash site stopped for a few days during the immediate accident investigation, which included taking aerial photos, Mota said.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health also is investigating the crash because the car entered a work area, Mora said. O.C. Jones Construction of Berkeley is the contractor for the project that is adding another lane in both directions of the highway.

Mota said the investigation will take several weeks, in part because of toxicology tests taken during Guevara's autopsy.

The CHP also wants to talk to the three children, students at the Roseland Elementary School, and Guevara's family.

"We'd like to wait a little while," Mota said.