Gilroy
– An SUV carrying five school district employees was rear-ended
by another driver on U.S. Highway 101 Monday in a crash similar to
the one that killed a Gilroy man there last week.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – An SUV carrying five school district employees was rear-ended by another driver on U.S. Highway 101 Monday in a crash similar to the one that killed a Gilroy man there last week.
Richard Simpson, a physical education teacher at Brownell Academy Middle School, was driving in his own 2004 Chevy Suburban southbound on 101, south of Sixth Street near the Tenth Street exit, at about 10 mph in the third lane from the left. Traffic in that section of the highway slows during peak hours, and Caltrans was preparing to start an ongoing construction project in the area.
Also in the vehicle were Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz, Gilroy High School teacher and football coach Darren Yafai, GHS Athletic Director Jack Daley, and Facilities Planning and Construction Manager Charlie Van Meter. They were traveling from San Jose Mineta International Airport – Yafai and Daley had gone to Southern California to look at artificial field turf – and were headed to GHS to discuss upgrades to the football stadium .
Stewart Scott, 39, of San Juan Bautista, was approaching the Suburban in a 1996 Audi at about 55 mph, according to the California Highway Patrol. He applied his brakes at the last moment, but could not stop in time to avoid a collision and rear-ended the Suburban, careened off the west edge of the highway and struck a large tree on the grass shoulder.
“It was a pretty significant collision,” said Officer Matt Ramirez of CHP. “(The Acura) hit the Suburban well enough where they both careened off the road.”
The Audi’s airbags deployed and Scott suffered a broken left hand and neck pain. He was taken to Saint Louise Regional Hospital.
Ramirez said it was cloudy and raining lightly at the time, which was probably the major factor in the crash.
“With the rain and the wet weather, people driving on 101, they don’t have the mindset that they need to slow down,” Ramirez said.
Monday’s crash was similar to one last Thursday, in which a driver traveling southbound near Tenth Street did not see slow-moving traffic ahead. Louis Masoni, 80, of Gilroy, died in that accident when he struck a big rig.
With Caltrans working on re-paving much of the highway, there are numerous signs with flashing lights alerting drivers of the construction and the need to slow down, Ramirez said.
“The main thing is that traffic was normal for that time of day, and may have been a little busier because of the construction going on,” he said.
The five GUSD employees had complaints of pain, and told the CHP they would seek their own medical attention.
“Now I know what whiplash feels like,” Van Meter said Tuesday. “We’re just fortunate we were wearing our seat belts like we were supposed to.”
