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.
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 11:20 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, a 25-year-old San Jose man, complained of pain 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 eastbound, but in the westbound lane. CHP officers say at least one motorist called them before the collision to report a car driving on the wrong side of the highway.
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 are investigating why Salinas-Terrero was driving on the wrong side of the road.
