An accident early Saturday morning left two dead in San Mateo. The two men were believed to have been standing on the shoulder of southbound U.S. Highway 101 when struck and thrown into the northbound lanes.
Stacy White, 39, apparently parked a red Saturn facing the wrong direction in one of the left southbound lanes of southbound highway 101 around Poplar Avenue at about 2:55 am according to CHP spokesman Art Montiel.
Officers believe White, from San Mateo, then exited the car, and Steve Pereira, 26, had stopped and exited his vehicle to see if White was alright.
The two were then struck by a black limousine traveling southbound, which sent them flying across the highway into northbound traffic. They were pronounced dead on the scene at 3:06 a.m., according to the San Mateo County coroner’s office.
The force of the impact sent the bodies flying into the northbound lanes of the highway, Montiel said. The bodies were struck by a CHP office and multiple drivers who were unaware of the incident and struck the bodies with their vehicles, officials said.
A California Highway Patrol car struck a presumed dead body that had been flung into northbound highway traffic in San Mateo from a collision reported minutes earlier, a CHP spokesman said.
“We don’t know if the impact from southbound lanes to the northbound lanes actually killed them,” he said. “But we presumed they were both deceased by the time other vehicles traveling northbound were hitting them.”
“We think they were already dead after we looked at the distance from where they were originally hit to where they landed,” CHP Sgt. Trent Cross said.
Cross could not provide the distance the victims flew, but he said the entire scene made up about 3,000 feet.
The officer that hit one of the victims had been responding to reports of an accident that matched the description of White’s car, which had been reported at about 2:51 a.m. as driving the wrong direction on the highway, Montiel said.
A Sig-alert was issued at 3:09 a.m., and only one lane of southbound traffic and one of northbound remained open while officials investigated the scene.
Remaining lanes of the highway stayed closed until 6 p.m. yesterday evening, Montiel said.
Officers believe White may have been driving under the influence of alcohol due to the smell of the Saturn, Montiel said.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an auto accident contact the the personal injury lawyers at the Alexander Law Group, LLP by email or call 888.777.1776. All calls free and confidential.
