Things kicked off Monday with an SUV flying of Highway 680 in Danville and ramming a tree near Hap Magee Park. As firefighters and the CHP arrived to assist the driver in that crash a steady succession of other accidents began to tick off on freeways and city streets – lasting for much of the day.
The day seemed to come to a head just before 4 p.m. with Martinez police responding to the Martinez Marina for a report of a vehicle roll over. Officers determined the driver of the vehicle was traversing a dirt mound in the marina and mistakenly pressed the gas pedal rather than the brake pedal. This caused the vehicle to roll over on its roof. The driver of the vehicle was uninjured.
During that same time, a driver of another vehicle did not notice the firetruck and police vehicles in the area and began spinning “donuts” near the scene of the incident. This driver was then stopped, cited for misdemeanor reckless driving, and his vehicle was impounded for 30 days.
In the heat of the moment NEWS24-680 blended the two separate incidents into one in a Twitter post and we appreciate Martinez PD’s thoughtful correction of events.
MPD also seized the moment to remind everyone that the Marina is not a place to practice driving off road or racing and that MPD officers will continue to provide heavy patrols to this area to issue citations and impound vehicles when appropriate. Got it? Good.
At 6 p.m., neighbors living near Dinosaur Hill Park in Pleasant Hill began to ring us, reporting another serious accident on Taylor Blvd. with a car rolling 50 feet down the embankment and coming to rest against a tree there.
Neighbors, shaken by an earlier, fatal accident in the same area this week, reported some anxious moments as Pleasant Hill and Lafayette PD and ConFire units arrived on the scene to help extricate the driver and passengers.
In this case, everyone appeared to walk away with minor injuries.
Just read the list of injuries for the man on Taylor. Ouch!!! Nice of his wife to let everyone know he’s going to make it.
I wonder when Lafayette Police Department will be checking on speeds as it goes from 55 to 35 into Lafayette on that stretch. Been out of town for a week so maybe they have been already handing out the speeding tickets