SAN MARTIN
– A 17-year-old Morgan Hill girl was initially feared dead after
a collision at Columbet and Church avenues Tuesday morning. But
doctors now think she will survive.
SAN MARTIN – A 17-year-old Morgan Hill girl was initially feared dead after a collision at Columbet and Church avenues Tuesday morning. But doctors now think she will survive.
The nature of the victim’s injuries is protected by patient confidentiality laws; however, it’s clear that “she will be staying at San Jose Medical Center for an extended period of time,” according to Officer Brad Voyles with the California Highway Patrol. CHP did not name the girl since she is under 18,
The wreck was initially reported as potentially fatal, CHP Officer Terry Mayes said. Paramedics discovered that the girl was unconscious, but alive. She never regained consciousness at the scene, Mayes said.
Paramedics took the driver of the other vehicle, 54-year-old Victoria Morton, of San Martin, to Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy with possible bruised ribs, Morton’s husband, Dave, said at the scene as a tow truck removed his wife’s heavily damaged white Ford van. Victoria was treated and released, a Saint Louise official said.
The accident took place at 7:59 a.m. Tuesday, according to CHP. A witness driving behind Victoria Morton reported seeing the 17-year-old’s black Acura Integra run a stop sign at the intersection while heading north on Columbet, Mayes said.
“It is foggy, but it does not preclude seeing the stop sign,” Mayes said just after leaving the scene.
The van, westbound on Church at the 45-mph speed limit, hit the car on the passenger side, the witness reportedly told CHP. The van rotated 180 degrees, rolled over onto the driver’s side, and both vehicles went off the road. They slammed into a fence on the northwest side of the road and came to rest.
Paramedics had to tear open both vehicles to extricate the drivers. It was too foggy for a CALSTAR medical helicopter to land, so paramedics used ambulances to transport both patients.
The only passengers were two dogs inside the van, and they sustained no injuries. Victoria Morton was driving the animals to a veterinarian.
