Big rig crash victims remain hospitalized
A cement truck blocks northbound Highway 101 north of the Marin County line on Tuesday afternoon. The crash, just south of Petaluma, diverted traffic onto Highway 37 and up Lakeville Highway.
JEFF KAN LEE / The Press DemocratPublished: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 4:43 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 3:32 p.m.
Two people remained hospitalized Wednesday from a chain-reaction crash that shutdown northbound Highway 101 near Petaluma to thousands of motorists for four hours Tuesday.
Kenneth Wade, 29, of Petaluma, and Nastasha Vandenheuvel, 34, of Windsor, were in stable condition Wednesday morning at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Wade and Vandenheuvel were part of a four-vehicle pile-up that began when Helen Kyung Sook Daniels, 68, of Petaluma, swerved her Honda Accord toward the highway median to avoid slowed traffic ahead.
As she swerved, she hit a Chevrolet minivan and both vehicles crashed into a tractor-trailer rig, driven by Wade, flipping it on its side and into the path of a Volvo wagon driven by Christian Vandenheuvel and occupied by his wife, Natasha.
The Volvo also flipped into the air and landed atop the center median barrier.
Christian Vandenheuvel, 33, was treated and released from Marin General Hospital while the driver of the minivan, Cindy Green, of American Canyon, was uninjured.
Daniels was taken to Marin General Hospital and treated for minor injuries then released.
Tens of thousands of Highway 101 commuters were delayed or diverted miles out of their way because of the Tuesday afternoon crash, that stretched a flipped big-rig across northbound lanes.
The crash just north of the Marin County line closed the northbound lanes for four hours and brought the southbound lanes to a virtual standstill as drivers marveled at the pileup.
"It's a pretty spectacular crash," said CHP spokeswoman Barbara Upham.
The chain-reaction accident occurred at about 2:15 p.m. in the northbound lanes between Kastania and San Antonio roads and caused a Volvo station wagon to be catapulted on top of the median divider.
"There were crumpled cars all over the place," said Jeff Holden, acting battalion chief of the Petaluma Fire Department, which responded with several units.
Traffic backed up two to three miles into Marin County as commuters were rerouted east to Highway 37 and up Lakeville Highway to Petaluma, Upham said. Some drivers may have been delayed by up to two hours before the lanes reopened at about 6 p.m.
The truck Wade was driving weighed 79,000 pounds, just 1,000 pounds under the limit, Upham said.
It was unclear if the truck's weight was a factor in the accident. The truck must have slowed as it climbed the grade, as most traffic slows there, Upham said.
The crash occurred not far north of the Novato Narrows, where the highway reduces to two lanes in each direction. It is also a difficult area to divert traffic around because there are few other access roads in the area, Upham said.
"When you have something like this, then those alternate routes become congested, so you just have this ripple effect," Upham said.
Even though the southbound lanes remained open throughout the incident, drivers were urged to use Lakeville Highway to avoid the backup caused by people slowing to view the accident, Upham said.
You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
Comments are currently unavailable on this article