GILROY
– A 25-year-old Salinas man died Friday night in a head-on car
crash while driving on the wrong side of a divided portion of
Pacheco Pass Highway.
GILROY – A 25-year-old Salinas man died Friday night in a head-on car crash while driving on the wrong side of a divided portion of Pacheco Pass Highway.
Ismael Salinas-Terrero was pronounced dead on the scene shortly after the 11:24 p.m. accident, according to the California Highway Patrol. From the other car, driver Jeremy Hernandez, 19, of San Jose, was airlifted to San Jose Medical Center with a broken leg.
His passenger, 25-year-old Fredy Hernandez, also of San Jose, received bruises and was taken by ambulance to Saint Louise Regional Hospital for treatment. There were no passengers in Salinas-Terrero’s car.
The collision took place on state Highway 152, about 22 miles east of Gilroy, about a half-mile east of the South Fork Pacheco Creek bridge.
There, a concrete barrier divides the east- and westbound lanes. Salinas-Terrero’s 1994 Nissan Sentra was traveling eastbound, but in the westbound lane. The accident took place near a large curve in the road, and it is possible Hernandez never saw Salinas-Terrero until it was too late to avoid him, CHP officers said. Hernandez’s 1993 Honda Accord struck Salinas-Terrero’s car head-on.
CHP officers said there is no evidence at this time that Salinas-Terrero was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but Santa Clara County coroner’s staff will conduct an autopsy and toxicology report as part of the investigation.
All three men were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident, according to the CHP.
