Two motorists—one a Gilroy resident and one from San Jose—died in a head-on collision on Hale Avenue in north Morgan Hill Tuesday afternoon, according to police.
About 3 p.m. Jan. 17, authorities responded to the accident involving a 2012 Volkswagen Golf and a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe on Hale Avenue just south of Willow Springs Road.
The Tahoe, driven by Malissa Moon, 29 of Gilroy, was traveling northbound on Hale at about 45 mph, according to a California Highway Patrol incident report. The Volkswagen, with Scott Lane, 51 of San Jose, at the wheel, was going southbound about 65 mph.
“Witnesses to this collision placed Lane driving in a reckless manner and passing vehicles on the west shoulder, prior to the collision,” reads the CHP report.
For an unknown reason, the Volkswagen crossed the double yellow lines in the middle of Hale Avenue just north of Willow Springs Road. The left front side of the vehicle collided with the left front side of the Tahoe, according to police.
The collision was so forceful that investigators think both drivers suffered fatal injuries immediately upon impact, the CHP report says. Witnesses called 911, and both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene shortly after paramedics and police arrived. The CHP report added that each driver was pinned inside the wreckage, and efforts to revive either motorist were unsuccessful.
At about 4 p.m. at the scene, emergency personnel were preparing to use hydraulic tools to extricate both bodies from the wrecked vehicles, according to police.
Alcohol or drugs are not suspected as factors in the accident, police said. The accident remains under investigation.
Both lanes of Hale Avenue between Willow Springs Road and Tilton Avenue were closed to all vehicle traffic while police investigated and cleaned up the scene during the afternoon commute, police said.
