Winter weather plays role in teen accidents

By Rebecca Ray

Accidents happen, and in January, when Saratoga experienced freezing and rainy weather, car accidents that involved teenagers happened more than usual. Normally, there might be one car accident in Saratoga that involves teens each month, says Deputy Steven Grisenti of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. But in January, there were three car crashes that involved teens, and in two of them, the weather played a part.

On Jan. 31 at 7:45 a.m., when it was about 28 degrees outside, a 17-year-old student from Saratoga High School, whose windows were obscured by frost, ran into a large dump truck as it made a U-turn on Sobey Road at Chester Avenue. The truck, which had a trailer attached to it, blocked both lanes of the two-lane road. But the student, who didn't use the brake, didn't see the truck, according to Grisenti.

Although the student's Chevy Blazer was "just about totaled," Grisenti said, both drivers emerged unscathed. The dump truck, driven by Richard Sotelo of Sunnyvale, could no longer shift gears, but the damage was repairable, Grisenti said.

When the student hit the dump truck, a speaker box that was about 2 feet by 3 feet and that was in the back seat of the Blazer flew forward and lodged between the rear passenger seat and roof. Grisenti said that it could have easily hit the driver in the back of the head.

The other two accidents occurred Jan. 28. At about 12:50 p.m., when it had been raining off and on, a Lynbrook High School student and San Jose resident, who had gotten his license 20 days earlier, was turning left from Johnson Avenue onto Prospect Road when the tire of his pickup slipped. Although his foot slammed on the brake, it slipped onto the gas pedal. The car drove across a few lanes and onto the sidewalk, where it knocked over the brick column of a mailbox. The car then traveled across a footpath and crashed through a wooden fence--where it left a hole that was about 20 feet in diameter--and cruised about 48 feet into the yard of the residence at 19136 Prospect Road. The car tore up plants and irrigation pipes in the yard.

Grisenti said that the monetary amount of the damage could not be estimated at the time. He said that although there was a good amount of damage to the driver's left front fender, no one was injured. He added that if the weather had been dry, the turn would have been safe.

Almost two hours later, a 17-year-old Saratoga High student who was driving north on Juniper Lane reached down to the passenger seat to pick something up, when the car drifted to the right, onto the sidewalk. The car hit a mailbox on a wood pole, drove through a yard and smacked into a pine tree that was about 4 feet in diameter, on the corner of Juniper Lane and Loveland Court. Grisenti said it appeared as though the driver didn't use the brake before impact. The collision resulted in major front-end damage to the car, which will probably be totaled. The paramedics on the scene said the driver, who was taken to Valley Medical Center, broke his leg. The tree, however, was unharmed.

While inexperience was the main cause of the crashes, speed didn't appear to be a factor in any of them, Grisenti said. In all three cases, the drivers will be found at fault for causing collisions, and the accidents will appear on their records. However, their licenses won't be taken away. In each instance, it was the first time the student had caused a collision, Grisenti said.

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