In Gilroy a 19-year-old Gilroy man died behind the wheel of a
sports car after colliding head-on with a pickup around noon Monday
on Luchessa Avenue during a period of heavy rainfall. City police
declined to name either driver but confirmed, minutes after the
wreck, that the driver of the Toyota MR2 sports car was dead.
In Gilroy a 19-year-old Gilroy man died behind the wheel of a sports car after colliding head-on with a pickup around noon Monday on Luchessa Avenue during a period of heavy rainfall.
City police declined to name either driver but confirmed, minutes after the wreck, that the driver of the Toyota MR2 sports car was dead.
The deceased driver’s parents and sister arrived at the scene shortly after the crash and wept upon hearing the news.
The collision crushed the front driver’s corner of the Toyota, impacting all the way back to the driver’s seat. The car came to a rest completely off the road. The other vehicle, a Dodge Dakota pickup, received heavy front-end damage.
The pickup driver had a sore foot after the wreck but declined medical treatment, according to Ashley.
There were no passengers in either vehicle.
The Toyota was eastbound on Luchessa Avenue and the pickup westbound, according to police.
The accident was one of at least six wrecks in the South Valley between 11:30 a.m. and noon Monday during which heavy rain was falling and collecting on roadways. During that half-hour period, California Highway Patrol officers responded to five accidents on U.S. 101 between Coyote and San Juan Bautista.
Two Honda Civics crashed and leaked fuel that then burst into flames, covering both lanes, at 11:30 a.m. on U.S. 101 southbound, just south of the Pajaro River bridge near San Juan Bautista. Driver Lori Jean Matteucci, 22, of Santa Clara, complained of pain afterward but declined medical treatment. According to CHP, Matteucci was passing another Civic – driven by Jennifer Diane Tysseland, 27, of Dallas, Texas – when she lost control and struck Tysseland’s car.
The collision disrupted traffic for 20 to 30 minutes and backed cars up to the 10th Street exit in Gilroy, according to CHP Officer Terry Mayes.
Three solo accidents without injury took place on northbound U.S. 101 in the vicinity of the Coyote Creek bridge, according to CHP: one at 11:35 a.m., one at 11:45 a.m. and one at noon.
While the rainy weather was likely a factor in the accidents, Mayes said they could probably have been avoided if the drivers had driven more carefully.
