Driver May Have Gone Several Miles In Wrong Direction Before Fatal Crash In Pacifica
PACIFICA (KPIX) - Two young people are dead and another suffering from life-threatening injuries after a disastrous wrong turn in Pacifica, and the Highway Patrol is still trying to figure out how that could have happened.
"What we do know is that the driver of the Toyota Prius is the brother of the passenger that was ejected in the Toyota Prius," says Officer Bert Diaz with California Highway Patrol.
Thrown from the car and killed was 23-year-old Tulio de Giovanni, an agroecology student from Brazil now living with his brother in Daly City. Also killed was 23-year-old Megan Cota of San Francisco.
The CHP says it does not yet know how their car ended up traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of Highway 1. Phone calls to 911 suggest the car may have been headed the wrong direction for as many as four miles, all the way back to the 280 Interchange.
"We don't know exactly where the entry point was," explains Officer Diaz. "We did get several calls of a wrong-way driver. We got it north of 280, as far south as 35, SR [state route] 35. At this point it's undetermined."
Now, investigators are now trying to work backwards, and figure out which wrong turn might have sent this car driving towards disaster.
"We want to make sure we rule out any foul play," says Diaz. "We look into whether drugs or alcohol or medication was involved, but at this point it's too early to determine that."
The two passengers in the pickup truck were not seriously injured, but the brother of the man killed who was driving the Prius, is still hospitalized in critical condition.
