The horrific scenario has been repeated too many times recently in the South Bay. Motorists survive one traffic collision only to be severely injured or even killed moments later when another vehicle plows into them.
Two teenagers — one from Santa Teresa High School in South San Jose and one from St. Francis High School in Mountain View — still are hospitalized with severe head injuries after being involved in separate accidents a month apart. On New Year’s Eve, just before the second impact, 17-year-old Kadin Malavey from San Jose was out of his car and had called his father to say he was fine. Police say that Caroline Hansen, 17, from St. Francis High, was still in her car and might have been reaching for her phone to do the same.
Whether inside the car or out, in the middle of traffic or on the shoulder, advice from highway officials remains the same: stay in your car, keep your seat belt on, drive to the shoulder if possible, call 911 and wait until police arrive.
“We’ve had good Samaritans get out of their cars and get hit and killed, or people trying to exchange information who were hit and killed or someone broke down and tried to run across the lanes and was hit and killed. It’s really sad,” said Sgt. Trent Cross, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. “The highway can be really dangerous out there.”
And while it’s not a sure thing, and even CHP officers have been killed, Cross affirms that if you’re going to get hit, it’s better to be inside your car than out.
“At least if you’re still in the car with your seat belt on, you still have a chance to survive,” Cross said.
It’s advice that wouldn’t have worked for Jesus Cortes’ family. He thought he had done everything right to keep his family safe when his pickup truck broke down on the side of Highway 101 in July in South San Jose. He had pulled far off the shoulder and helped his wife and daughter get out to a safe spot on the embankment.
It was a late summer day. The sun was out. The sky was clear. “You could see for a mile,” he said.
Before Cortes had a chance to pull the boy out, a motorist high on drugs slammed into the back of the truck. Cortes toolbox in the flatbed thrust forward, causing the fatal impact to his son.
“It’s a hard pain,” the 39-year-old handyman said. “My life is not the same.”
The CHP doesn’t keep statistics on secondary collisions. But more than 160 law enforcement officers across the country have been killed since 1999 after being struck by vehicles along the nation’s highways, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Five years ago, CHP Officer Michael Walker was killed on Highway 17 when a motorist rammed into a Caltrans truck, which then hit Walker as he helped a stranded driver.
“For us, even as professionals with lights, sirens and uniforms, we still get hit by motorists not paying attention or driving in an unsafe manner,” Cross said. “We go through 27 weeks of training to avoid these situations. Unfortunately, there are those situations that you can’t prepare for or predict.”
A year ago, Abundio Prudente of Madera had survived a collision along Highway 101. But when a motorist spun in his direction, he leapt out of the way, only to fall over a 30-foot embankment to his death.
As much as motorists might want to exchange information with the other vehicle owner, the CHP suggests it’s safer to write down the other person’s license plate to follow up with later, if need be.
CHP Officer Curtis Glace also said motorists often underestimate their ability to move their vehicles to the shoulder after a crash.
“A lot of times drivers think they can’t drive because they have a flat tire or it may shake a little,” Glace said. “Turn on the hazards. If you can get to the shoulder safely, it’s a lot better.” And passing motorists should maintain a good viewing distance.
“Look ahead, slow down,” Glace said. “If you see some something ahead, slow down and proceed cautiously.”
That might have helped the two teenagers.
Glace said he wasn’t sure whether Hansen still had her seat belt on after her first collision on Highway 280 in late November, but she may have been reaching for her cell phone at the time of the second impact.
“She is improving,” Patricia Tennant, the principal at St. Francis, said Wednesday. “The family is grateful for continued prayers and support.”
Malavey, from San Jose, was out of his car, having called his father from the side of Monterey Highway on New Year’s Eve, when he became the victim of a hit-and-run.
“He’s OK,” his mother, Melissa Malavey, said Wednesday. “But he’s not well by any means.”
Contact Julia Prodis Sulek at 408-278-3409.
