Fatal Hit-And-Run Crash On Highway 4 (Delta Area)
 

http://www.ktvu.com/news/23928018/detail.html

ANTIOCH, Calif. -- A man and woman who were killed in a head-on crash on the state Highway 4 Bypass in Antioch on Tuesday have been identified as 56-year-old Burlingame resident Anthony Soldano and 47-year-old Brentwood resident Gina Blackstone, according to the Contra Costa County coroner's office.

The crash happened at about 4:40 p.m. on the state Highway 4 Bypass near Lone Tree Way, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Maguire said.

A silver 1995 Honda Civic was driving west on the bypass alongside a black Ford F-250 pickup truck that was towing a boat, possibly a black-and-white boat used for wakeboarding, Maguire said.

I appreciate that you posted this. Just keep in mind that the truck towing the boat never touched the Civic, so there would be no damage to cooberate or disprove the driver of the Civic's story, that she didn't cause the crash because another vehicle did.

I'm not saying the 19 year old is lying, and police press releases never give all of the details, but its an easy story to make up, especially if you struck a motorcycle and two people are now dead.

is it that easy for someone just involved in a wreck to be really specific w/ the type of truck and the type of boat that was being towed?

I am pretty it wasn't the civic driver that gave the details on the truck and boat, I am sure someone else saw what happened.

I 100% agree , not only that but if the driver was tail gating and tried to pass her, She probably tried to sped up cause if she stayed the same speed or slowed down * like you should when an aggressive driver is going to pass you * ... This wouldnt have been a problem...

Chase that makes no sense. If she was in the left lane and she was pushed over it's more likely that she was the overtaking vehicle or the two vehicles were going roughly the same speed. I've personally been run off the interstate several times on my way too and from school by vehicles that were towing something, whether it was a big rig or some guy with a uHaul. They just don't pay as close of attention as they should. It's a sh***y situation to be in when that happens and there's no real good way to win.

I dont understand how that dosnt make sense? She was in the left lane and the truck was behind her tail gating her and then he tried speeding up to pass her and him passing her caused her to swerve over the median onto on coming traffic..


Update : I just read THAT news story and its different from the other ones I read yesterday saying the truck was tail gating her and tried passing her. So I can see were you got the confusion from my statement...

The truck towing a boat was passing the civic? it seems more likely that the civic was passing the truck, truck didnt see the civic and tried to change lanes...

Because that wouldn't happen. Just because he's passing her wouldn't mean that she is going to swerve out of paranoia. And if he was passing her and didn't pay proper attention to how far ahead he needed to go, then it's still his fault, not hers, even if she sped up. She could have let off the gas some which would have caused her to slow down, which results in his tailgating, and then she realizes how slow she's going so she speeds up. I see that shiz happening all the time. The scenario you listed itself doesn't make much sense. I mean no matter what it's the truck driver's fault.

She could have let off the gas some which would have caused her to slow down, which results in his tailgating, and then she realizes how slow she's going so she speeds up

So how does that not match to my statement lol?

I dont think the driver of the truck was trying to pass her. She would have swerved into him if so, or away from him off the road. From the video im guessing the truck and civic were traveling on the two lane side of the road and the truck was in the slow lane and had to have come into the fast lane to cause a swerve into on coming traffic.

Yea seth this is what is confusing me because the story I read yesterday said that the truck driver was tail gating her and tried to pass her... I try to find it give me a sec..

ANTIOCH (CBS 5 / BCN) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1
Two people on this motorcycle were killed in a crash near Antioch Tuesday afternoon.
CBS

Two people on a motorcycle were killed in Contra Costa County near Antioch late Tuesday afternoon when the driver of a pickup truck made an unsafe lane change and caused a Honda Civic to hit the motorcycle.

The California Highway Patrol is looking for the truck, a black Ford F-250 towing a white boat, which did not stop after the crash, CHP Officer John Short said.

Short said the crash occurred around 4:40 p.m. on the eastbound Highway 4 Bypass near Lone Tree Way after the F-250 was reportedly tailgating a white Honda Civic.
He said the truck then made an unsafe lane change, which forced the Honda Civic into the motorcycle.

The motorcyclist and passenger was taken to the Kaiser Permanente hospital in Antioch, where they were pronounced dead. The driver of the Honda Civic suffered serious injuries.

Anyone who has information about the accident is asked to call 1-800-TELL-CHP.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

And that still means it's the truck driver's fault. So what if she sped up? It was his responsibility to make sure that the lane was clear before he tried to merge. How often do you drive on the interstate, because the attempt to pass someone who is in the left lane by going into the right lane is FREQUENTLY blocked by the left lane driver speeding up. It's a pretty common thing, and the truck driver should have backed down and dropped back behind the accelerating civic in the left lane. Just because she sped up does not justify him merging without paying any attention to the situation at hand. That's an expected occurrence during any interstate driving.

Right, and when you are the person who decides " this guy isnt going to pass me" you are going to put your "risk bar" alot higher when you decide to speed up because that car on the right going faster, trying to pass you .... He or she will take the littlest space he can just to cut you off... Whats your rule when you notice an aggressive driver on the road then Nick...? Do you speed up because you feel the driver is being a prick trying to get pass you or do you slow down knowing that being involved with this driver could potentially lead to something serious?

I use cruise control and my jeeps cruise control is spot on. It hardly ever varies. I checked that to make sure it was working right with a GPS too. If someone's being a prick and riding my ass, I get over to the right lane as soon as is practical. If they decide to hop in the right lane and try to pass me, but look like they're about to try to squeeze through too small of a space, I slow down a little bit. However, when I'm passing a slow driver in the left lane and they speed up and you're coming up on another slower vehicle in the right lane? I back off and drop back in behind them and wait until I have another opportunity to pass them by speeding up faster than they do. It's called being a defensive driver to others, and when you have two aggressive drivers (like this situation) someone loses. If they start merging into me I step on the break and let myself fall back. Last winter I had a tractor trailer merge into me and to send me off the side of the highway going 75 mph. I held onto the breaks and kept the wheel firm and popped back on once I was behind the truck. I swore like a sailor and called him a prick and a half, but it could have been much worse than that.

No matter the situation, it is ALWAYS the responsibility of the merging vehicle to make sure that the other lane is clear, EVEN IF THE CAR THAT THEY ARE PASSING HAS SPED UP.

"No matter the situation, it is ALWAYS the responsibility of the merging vehicle to make sure that the other lane is clear, EVEN IF THE CAR THAT THEY ARE PASSING HAS SPED UP. "

This is one of my biggest pet peeves, especially heading to Tahoe on HWY 50. People absolutely CRAWL along the HWY when its a 1 lane (each way). Then when a passing lane opens up they speed up anywhere from 5-15 mph!...WTF? Stick to the same speed you are driving at and let people pass! People need to learn some road etiquette for situations like the one I am referencing.

Dizzle that same things drives me straight crazy everytime i head up there. ugh


as far as the crash goes I live here in the area and commute that small stretch almost everyday.

1st of its not a interstate its a bypass road/highway

2nd that area goes from 2 lanes to 1 lane very fast were it happened. The speed limit there goes to 55 mph. The right lane ends in a exit to lone tree way a street. Most if not all the time cars fly on that stretch 70-85 mph. It pisses me off daily that people dont follow the speed rules because someone in the slow lane that needs to get over to the left lane that continues on is almost impossible because your going 55-60 and they are going 75 then see you and speed up so they dont get stuck behind the slow guy aka the guy doing the legal and safe speed. To avoid going behind you they now go 80mph. dumb really when the whole damn one lane backs up 75 yards later from stop lights and merging traffic. Effing ratards

so even if someone cuts you off going from the slow lane to the one remaining lane slow down really that simple. now whose to say that she was or wasnt in the wrong but who the hell swerves into a one lane into on coming traffic. maybe the truck driver moved over didnt see her and caught her half way thru racing by him or maybe she was following the speed limit and the guy merged over out of no were. who knows but i can tell you daily im the only one following the speed limit.

point is slow the eff down!!!!!!! its always a accident waiting to happen since the road design is dangerous. in the less than 2 yrs open its had over 174 accidents reported.

I agree wholeheartedly M-Dizzle. It drives me insane, but nonetheless, it happens, and it is the responsibility of the merging vehicle to make sure they are clear to get in the other lane. The boat driver clearly didn't do that.

And Soli, I agree with the speeding thing. It is the cause of the majority of these problems. It may not be an interstate, but it does seem to be a 2 laner with a speed limit above 35, so the same kind of rules apply to the way people drive there as they do on an interstate. If only people knew how to use their cruise contro, there wouldn't be half of these problems...

And if you don't have an option of smashing on the brakes to get back behind the other vehicle, if you're merged into, you're going into that other lane whether you swerve into it or you're pushed into it. It's very likely that if she hadn't swerved, the accident could have been much larger, since it could have involved a boat, the f-250, the civic, the motorcycle and likely anyone behind the truck or behind the motorcycle.

chase that story doesn't jive man. if he was tail gating her while both in the right lane why not just go to the left lane or slow down which slows him down. If they are both in the left lane she could have just got over to the right.

tailgating doesn't cause someone in front of you to decide it best to go into on coming traffic no does it?

ya man 21 yrs old and from a small town doesnt teach you how to drive in bay area traffic.

If you knew the area you would know what i am talking about. Its matter of bad driving. plain and simple. if she kept her head she could have even gone into the right back into the slow exit lane that he was coming from into hers. doesnt mean it wasnt the trucks fault potentially but she added to it.

There's a reason insurance companies charge kids more for coverage. They are inexperienced drivers

Oh, I do a ton of interstate driving, and between several trips to DC (gnarly traffic, especially just after new years), raleigh, wilmington and florida and plenty of time driving on the interstate, I've got a lot more driving miles/hours under my belt than most people my age do. I'm not claiming to know how Bay area traffic is, but you'd be surprised at how similar people drive in college towns to area's like that, since they all still drive like they're in the city or whatever where they learned to drive (or didn't learn). I'm not as much of a small town driver as you'd think I am, haha.

What if the truck was merging with her halfway between his front and back, that's a lot of space and you can't brake to get out of that situation. The only option there is swerving, because by the time he's merged over, the back end of that boat's going to be hitting you if you're just breaking. And you can count getting into the right lane out of the equation, since that won't work.

I'm not trying to justify her speeding up, but if she did speed up, then it was still the overtaking vehicle's responsibility to act accordingly, not just blindly merge over into someone, no matter where the incident occurred, bay area or rural redneck highway.

No I understand that... Im confused by the two stories... The one at the begining of the post and the one I posted mid way through... One says the truck was in the right lane side by side with tthe civic when he merged... the other says he was tail gating her and made and unsafe lane change which im assuming he tried to get in front of her and cut her off ... and since both those are different and changes the perspective on each.... if he really was tailgating and tried to get in front of her then I think she was just being a teenage driverr speeding up not letting him pass and stuff... if he was off the to right lane right beside her and started to merge I believe he may not have seen her ( blindspot ) ? Thoughts?

nick the halfway thru possiblity is the only one that holds any weight to the end result. just seems like being aware of your surroundings could have helped here. You have to almost expect that truck to cut you off. I know i do. unlike a car trucks towing take awile to get all the way over it buys buys you a sec to react.
sorry for the rant but i have one of the most stressfull jobs around and the thing that really stresses me out daily to the breaking point is the drive to and from. The way people drive around here, Its scary.

my mom was a trainer for buses and trucks for years she always preached defensive driving. Man out here you need it.

Truck driver should have stopped no matter what. I cannot believe he never saw her even in both reports. Even if he didn't he has since seen this story and has a responsibility to call in.
Truck driver owned this deal the moment he decided not to help or call in to clear it up if he wasn't responsible.

I love how this one story of the 19 yr old is pretty much taken as fact. she has no proof to back up that this actually happened. for all we know she could've been texting and veered into the other lane, looked up, overreacted, and swerved into the median. But you can play the "no THIS is how it happened" game for hours. It'd be nice if the article said who the source of the "accident description" was. If it IS a witness description and not from the 19 yr old driver, i'd be more likely to believe it. As far as the truck driver, he might not even had a clue that he cut anyone off and caused an accident. Not an excuse at all, just saying that being unaware of that happening is a definite possibility. He has to have heard it on the news by now though