A 96-year-old Morgan Hill woman was killed Friday when a pick-up
truck slammed into an ambulance taking her from a Gilroy hospital
to a nearby nursing home, according to the California Highway
Patrol.
Morgan Hill resident Joan Patrick, 96, was killed Friday when a pick-up truck slammed into an ambulance taking her from a Gilroy hospital to a nearby nursing home, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Police did not arrest the unidentified 38-year-old male from Salinas whose 2007 GMC pickup truck slammed into the ambulance and tipped it over, but officers are still investigating the crash, CHP Spokesperson Matt Peters said.
The lone driver, traveling west on Buena Vista Avenue, crashed into the 1998 ambulance as it attempted to turn left onto No Name Uno in north Gilroy. Police said they are looking into the likely possibility that the ambulance driver, who sustained minor injuries along with another passenger, made an unsafe turn. The truck driver did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and the conditions along Buena Vista Avenue about 2 p.m. Friday were clear and dry, Peters said.
“This appears to be driver error, but we’re still trying to determine if the death was a result of the accident or the woman’s condition,” Peters said.
The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office did not release the cause of Patrick’s death, and it was unclear why she was receiving medical treatment to begin with. After the accident, Patrick sustained lacerations and was transported to Saint Louise Regional Hospital. She was then airlifted to a regional hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Anyone with information on the accident can call CHP Officer Debbie Parra at (408) 848-2324.
