A 44-year-old Sunnyvale man suspected of DUI was arrested in one of several crashes on Highway 101 in Palo Alto, the California Highway Patrol said.
The first crash involved a wrong-way Chevrolet driver traveling south in northbound lanes of the highway at 2:06 a.m. north of Embarcadero Road. The man struck a Mercedes-Benz traveling north, and died at the scene after his vehicle became engulfed in flames upon impact.
The Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office will identify him once his family is contacted. The 25-year-old San Mateo man driving the Mercedes was taken to Stanford Medical Center with a broken leg.
Across the highway in southbound lanes, a BMW had slowed down to look at the collision when a Honda with four occupants hit it. The Honda came to rest facing the wrong way in the southbound lanes. The 66-year-old man driving the BMW suffered only minor injuries.
The Honda passengers were trying to extricate themselves from the car, which was still facing the wrong way, when a Nissan driving south hit the Honda head-on.
The Honda passengers, a 30-year-old San Jose woman with major injuries and two 30-year-old San Jose and Cupertino women with minor injuries, were taken to Stanford Medical Center, according to the CHP. A 31-year-old Union City man driving the Honda suffered minor injuries.
Nissan driver Shawn Thomas was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of DUI.
The fatal crash is still under investigation. Anyone with information about the multiple collisions is asked to contact the CHP’s Redwood City office at (650) 369-6261.
— Bay City News
