Drivers traveling the wrong way on roads in the San Francisco Bay Area caused four separate collisions, killing four people and injuring five, CHP said.
A 22-year-old Santa Rosa man died in a wrong-way crash in Marin early Saturday morning, CHP said.
Marin CHP officers received a call around 3:30 a.m. about a Nissan pickup moving against traffic on Highway 101 in the southbound lanes, officials said. About a minute later, officers said, the driver crashed the Nissan “head on” into a BMW sedan.
The 22-year-old driver of the Nissan was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. The other driver, identified as 30-year-old Jay Fred King III from Novato, suffered severe injuries and was transported to Marin General Hospital.
Marin CHP said the crash is still under investigation but that the driver of the Nissan was “suspected of a DUI.”
Woodside
A 54-year-old San Francisco resident died after a person drove their vehicle the wrong way and collided head-on with another vehicle in Woodside on Saturday afternoon, CHP said.
CHP said officers received a call around 2:30 p.m. about a Ford sedan headed the wrong way in the Interstate 280 southbound lanes. Officials said the driver crashed into a black BMW with two occupants.
The driver of the BMW, identified by the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office as Eden Palmer, was pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger was a male minor, CHP said.
The juvenile was sitting in the front seat and suffered severe injuries, officials said. He was taken to Stanford Medical Center.
Officials said the driver of the Ford, identified as Constellatia A. Martin, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and other possible charges pending investigation. CHP said the department is still investigating if drugs or alcohol was involved in the crash.
Martin suffered severe injuries and was transported to Stanford Medical Center, officials said.
Officers said three of the southbound I-280 lanes were closed for about three hours Saturday afternoon.
Sunnyvale
Both drivers died in a wrong-way crash on Sunday in the South Bay near Sunnyvale, officials said.
Officers responded to the scene around 4 a.m. after a 34-year-old man from San Francisco drove the wrong way on Highway 237 and crashed head-on into a vehicle driven by a 23-year-old man from Hayward, a CHP spokesperson for the San Jose dispatch center told SFGATE.
The crash occurred near Mathilda Avenue, closing the westbound freeway for about an hour and a half, CHP said.
The department said the sole occupants of both vehicles were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The crash is under investigation, and officers are determining the speeds of the vehicles and whether alcohol was involved, CHP said.
Oakland
A wrong-way driver was allegedly intentionally trying to crash into cars in Oakland on Sunday, officials said.
Oakland CHP received a call around 7 a.m. regarding a crash at the Seminary Avenue off-ramp. Officers said the driver was traveling east in the westbound lanes when they collided with a city-owned vehicle, said Karina Oseguera, a spokesperson for the agency.
CHP said it’s unclear where the suspect entered the freeway.
The suspect had severe injuries and was transported to Highland Hospital. The driver of the city vehicle was transported to the same hospital with minor injuries, CHP said.
Officials said the road was closed until about 8:30 a.m.
