A rain-slick road and too much speed were a deadly combination
Friday when two San Jose youths were killed and one adult was
seriously injured in a head-on collision with a big rig on Highway
152.
Pickup collided with a big rig, closing down section of dangerous roadway for four hours
By JED LOGAN
Staff Writer
HOLLISTER – A rain-slick road and too much speed were a deadly combination Friday when two San Jose youths were killed and one adult was seriously injured in a head-on collision with a big rig on Highway 152.
Adrian Paniagua, 12, of San Jose, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office said.
A 9-year-old San Jose boy, whose name was not released because of his age, died at San Jose Medical Center this morning from a severe open head injury, according to CHP.
The boy was taken to the trauma unit in San Jose by a CalStar helicopter. Francisco Sanchez of San Jose was also air-lifted to San Jose Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition and being treated for multiple broken bones and lacerations, the CHP said.
The 4:10 p.m. accident, which shut down a one-half mile section of Highway 152 for nearly four hours, occurred when Sanchez was driving eastbound in a 1962 Chevrolet pickup with Paniagua and the unnamed youth as passengers, the CHP said.
Crash investigators said that as Sanchez tried to navigate a left curve near Soap Lake at an unsafe speed, his pickup slid across the center line into the westbound lane and in front of a 1997 Freightliner tractor-trailer driven by David Hart, 45, of Madera, the CHP said.
The big-rig, which was hauling a load of new Porsche sport utility vehicles, did not have time to stop and struck the Chevrolet, CHP said.
“It was a wet, slick roadway. There was nothing the big-rig could do to stop in time,” CHP Capt. Bob Davies said.
The force of the collision sent both vehicles skidding about 50 feet off the side of the roadway.
At about the same time, a 2000 Daewoo LaGanza driven by Annamarie Alexander, 23, of Los Banos, who was traveling behind Sanchez, slammed on her brakes and avoided the accident, but the sedan suffered minor damage as it slid into the big-rig. Alexander was not injured, the CHP said.
Investigators said because Sanchez’s Chevrolet pickup predates California’s seat belt law, it was not required to have the safety devices. Neither Sanchez nor his two passengers were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident.
Hart was taken by ambulance to Saint Louise Regional Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries and later released, the CHP said.
“We will be conducting an investigation into the crash, but it appears the driver of the pickup may be at fault,” Davies said.
