A 29-year-old Gilroy man was killed early Thursday morning when
the car he was driving veered off the road and crashed into a
culvert.
A 29-year-old Gilroy man was killed early Thursday morning when the car he was driving veered off the road and crashed into a culvert.
Sliverio Gonzales Perez died in the 4:15 a.m. accident as he was heading home, driving southbound on Highway 101, from his night shift at a Fremont automotive factory.
The California Highway Patrol said Perez may have fallen asleep at the wheel or “suffered a medical condition.” No other vehicle was involved in the accident.
The CHP said it is unknown if Perez was wearing a seatbelt.
“He drove directly off the shoulder of the road,” CHP spokeswoman Terry Mayes said. “There was no sign of braking. There was no sign of anything.”
Perez suffered a head injury in the crash, but medical examiners with the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office aren’t sure whether Perez died from the wreck or something else – possibly a medical attack of some kind, according to CHP officers. Medical examiners made no determination from an autopsy Thursday and are waiting on lab results to settle on a cause of death.
A truck driver who witnessed the accident told CHP officers he saw no sign that Perez braked or struggled to control the car as it suddenly went off the road, suggesting he might have fallen asleep at the wheel or even had an attack of some sort.
“The witness said (the driver) looked fine and then suddenly his car went off the road,” Mayes said.
When asked if suicide or alcohol was a possible explanation to the accident, Mayes said it was more likely the death was related to a medical condition based on the height and weight of the man.
The victim’s driver’s license listed him at 5-feet 10-inches tall and 310 pounds.
According to CHP Officer Brad Voyles, a cousin of Perez, the victim had no history of medical trouble.
CHP officers estimated the driver to be traveling at 60 mph when he went off the road, south of Coyote Creek Golf Drive. He was in a 1973 Pontiac Le Mans sport coupe.
A small fire broke out in the car after the crash. Mayes said it had no apparent bearing on the accident.
Perez worked for New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont. He has family in Gilroy, and funeral arrangements are being made through Habing Family Funeral Home.
