Man survived fatal head-on crash on way home from Yosemite. He shares video to make a point
A man who survived a head-on crash that badly injured his family and killed the people in the car that hit him says the crash was preventable. And he wants that section of two-lane Highway 4 west of Copperopolis made safer.
“I believe that stretch of Highway 4 is dangerous and should be fixed by Caltrans,” Quang Tran said.
Tran, his wife and their two children, as well as his parents, were heading home to San Jose from a day trip to Yosemite on Aug. 11 when they were hit by a driver who entered Tran’s lane while trying to pass another vehicle. The crash happened around 7 p.m. about one-third of a mile east of Telegraph Road. That’s just outside the northern tip of Stanislaus County.
The eastbound Honda driver started his pass with a dotted-yellow center line, meaning passing is allowed. Tran said his Lexus and the Honda Civic collided just after the dotted-yellow line becomes solid for eastbound traffic, prohibiting passing.
“The preliminary cause was unsafe passing,” said Officer Eric Parsons with the CHP’s San Andreas office in Calaveras County. He said the Honda driver “crossed over into the westbound lane (and) did not have sufficient clearance when he went out.”
Parsons said the CHP is waiting for the final report from the Calaveras County Coroner’s Office but does not suspect the Honda driver was under the influence.
Parsons said the collision occurred about a quarter mile east of a curve in the road. Tran said Caltrans should not allow vehicles to pass one another that close to a curve. The speed limit is 65 mph in both directions. The CHP has reported the Honda was traveling at a high rate of speed. Tran was driving approximately 60 mph.
Tran has dash-cam footage of the wreck and said it shows that he and the other driver only had two seconds to realize they were on a collision course. “I had no way to defend myself,” he said. “Because the road curves, it took a couple of seconds to realize that it was an oncoming car.”
He continued: “It was obvious to me that the other (car) would collide with me head on and I was in danger. It was already too late. From the time the other car sees my car, they only had two seconds to fully react, which I believe is not enough time.”
Parsons said questions about where passing is allowed on Highway 4 fall under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Transportation.
Caltrans investigating
“Safety is always Caltrans’ number one priority, and we are conducting a traffic safety investigation,” Caltrans spokeswoman Erin McQueary said in a statement. “As this investigation is currently active, we are unable to provide any further comments.“
Tran, 37, and his daughters, 2-year-old Ava and 4-year-old Ana, suffered moderate injuries and were treated at Doctors Medical Center. He said his was wife, Hang Nguyen, was airlifted to Memorial Medical Center and spent a week there after sustaining internal bleeding and damage to her liver and spleen.
He said his mother, No Nguyen, spent two weeks at Doctors Medical Center because of internal bleeding and fractured ribs. Half of her small intestine was removed. His father, Chi Tran, remains in Memorial Medical Center recovering from his injuries, including damage to his intestines and multiple broken bones. Tran said he expects his father to be discharged soon.
His 73-year-old parents were visiting from Washington state, Tran said, and he expects they will be living with him and his family in San Jose for at least the next year. He believes it will take that long before they are well enough and strong enough to return to their own home. “She (his mother) is just now being able to get out of bed by herself,” he said. “... There is no way they can live independent lives” now.
He has set up a GoFundMe account to help cover his wife’s and parents’ medical costs.
Tran said he hopes the Caltrans’ investigation results in safety improvements to that section of the highway. He said it’s a dangerous combination of a 65 mph speed limit, impaired visibility because of the curve, and center line striping that permits passing.
Parsons said that stretch of Highway 4 does not generate a high volume of collisions. He said the stretch between Copperopolis and Angels Camp does because it’s a winding road that rises and dips. He said Caltrans has a project to make that section flatter and straighter.
Three white crosses at crash site
The Honda Civic’s driver and his two passengers died in the wreck. A CHP news release states the driver was 25-year-old Jose Luis Garcia of San Mateo and with him were Francesca Bologna, 25, and Danielle Bologna, 62. The mother and daughter were San Francisco residents.
Garcia’s sister, Sara, said she agrees Caltrans should not allow passing on that section of the highway. She said Francesca Bologna was her brother’s girlfriend.
“He would not have passed unless it was legal,” she said. “He had his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s mom in the car. My brother would never have put other people’s lives and his in danger.”
Garcia family members have visited the crash site several times since the Aug. 11 fatal collision. They have erected three small, white crosses at the scene. She said the three were on their way to Arnold to celebrate her brother’s birthday at the Garcia family’s vacation home. “He had just turned 25.”
