GILROY — Two Morgan Hill girls, ages 7 and 4, died in a chain-reaction wreck on Highway 152 on Friday morning, which investigators say was caused by a driver who veered into oncoming traffic while trying to pass a big rig.
That driver suffered major injuries after colliding with three vehicles, including the car carrying the girls, according to the California Highway Patrol. None of the nine other people — both drivers and passengers — involved in the five-vehicle crash were seriously injured.
There was no indication from the CHP that the initiating driver, a 25-year-old Los Banos man, was impaired. He was not arrested.
An investigation determined that around 7:05 a.m. the Los Banos man, driving a 2021 Tesla, was westbound on Highway 152 west of Lake Road, which is roughly at the midpoint of Pacheco Pass between Highway 101 and Interstate 5.
He drove into the eastbound lane in an attempt to overtake a Peterbilt big rig and clipped an oncoming 2018 Honda, which caused the Tesla to lose control and collide head-on with an eastbound 2017 Dodge, the CHP stated in a news release.
That impact caused the Dodge to spin out and travel into the path of the big rig, which broadsided the left side of the Dodge before crashing through a private fence along the highway.
The sequence of crashes ended when the Tesla spun out and hit a 2020 Subaru, the CHP said.
In the wake of the crash, a 7-year-old girl riding in the Dodge was pronounced dead at the scene. A 4-year-old girl in the same car was rushed to Valley Medical Center in San Jose, where she died from her injuries.
The deceased victims’ names were not released by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office pending their formal identification and notification of their next of kin.
The man driving the Tesla was hospitalized with major injuries. The Honda driver and her two passengers — all women in their 60s and 70s from San Jose — suffered minor injuries, as did the Subaru driver, a 30-year-old San Diego man.
Three other people who were in the Dodge — a man and woman described as 32-year-old Morgan Hill residents, and a 1-year-old boy — did not have any reported injuries. Similarly, the 48-year-old Petaluma man driving the rig and a 35-year-old San Diego woman riding in the Subaru were not injured, the CHP said.
The wreck remains under investigation; anyone with information for the CHP can contact 408-427-0700.