The following is from the CHP:
Wrong way driver on SR-4 results in fatal crash
Early this morning (11/17/22), at about 12:10am, CHP Contra Costa was advised of a wrong way driver traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of SR-4 near Railroad Avenue. The wrong way vehicle (Hyundai Elantra) continued eastbound in the westbound lanes and collided head on into a Ford Flex traveling in the westbound lanes of SR-4, west of Loveridge Road. Both vehicles sustained major damage and came to rest within the westbound lanes.
The driver and sole occupant of the Ford sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased on scene. The Hyundai was occupied by one adult driver and three juvenile passengers, all occupants sustained fatal injuries and were pronounced deceased at the scene. At this time, it is undetermined if drugs and/or alcohol were a factor. This incident is still under investigation. If anyone witnessed this crash, the wrong way vehicle prior to the crash, or the events leading up to the crash, please contact Contra Costa CHP in Martinez at (925) 646-4980. Thank you.
I wonder if the vehicle entered the wrong way at Harbor, Bailey would have been quite a long drive going the wrong way. Will be interested to hear if driver was inexperienced young driver with teenage passengers or if this was a family with an intoxicated parent as driver.
That’s what I was wondering too
You never know when your number is up. Simply horrible.
What a tragic waste specially with kids involved.
How many accidents on this freeway 🛣️
Just wait for the toxicology report…..it will tell all.
Every time i read about a wrong-way driver on the highway, I think about putting those embedded spikes that you see in parking lots on the exit ramps. If someone goes the wrong way, the get 4 flat tires. End of threat.
You have a point. It seems to me there’s a lot more incidents of wrong way drivers these days than there use to be. Could be I didn’t listen as closely to traffic reports back then. Probably newpapers didn’t report on wrong way drivers unless it was a horricfic crash like this one, and then it was often on the back pages. I wonder if anyone have observed the same as I have.
what a great idea.
Used to have those.. discontinued long ago
This is so tragic. Those poor people probably just heading home, dead from someone’s raving stupidity.
They need to put more CHP standbys on SR4. Lots of activity is going on that HW.
how many annual fatalities on that “war road” ?
i count 6, just this week, according to claycord.com. when i lived out that way, i used to dream of having a real military tank, as my daily driver. it would have been a much calmer drive ….
I wonder if we will get an update on tox reports when they come out or when there is more information about what actually happened.
HWY 4 is a complete death trap! . Everyone knows this. If you drive there you stand a great chance of either getting shot or killed by a psychopath driver! Why do you never see the CHP out there? It’s not like they have too far to go from the station! Guess it’s easier to sit and catch carpool violators in the valley than catch people playing armed bumper cars and killing each other on 4!
My mother inlaw was the caller who called 911at 1210 and she praying
for every on in this situation
I just read on another site that the car entered the wrong way on Railroad Avenue and continued to Loveridge, that is a fair distance to not realize you are going the wrong way and then not pull over, even at that time in the morning there would probably have been more than one car coming against the wrong way driver. Same article also stated that the 3 children killed was in car that was going the wrong way, what was that person thinking, or high on, or was it suicide. If so just go some place quiet and off yourself off, no need to take 3 young innocent lives with him/her as well as the innocent driver of the oncoming car.
This is gut wrenching
I see people make idiotic moves on the Highway and roads all the time. It’s always due to not paying attention, and shouldn’t be driving period. Get off the phones. Read the signs. If you can’t read the signs, stay off the roads. This person killed 4 or 5 (can’t remember totally) innocent people. That’s tragic and preventable.
I would say 4 innocent people the 5th person was the driver going the wrong way. How does someone get on the highway the wrong way, there’s plenty of signs, and the were going the wrong way for about a mile l think, there must have been oncoming traffic even at that hour, make her realize her mistake and pull over. I can see if one is in the City or a small town, perhaps making a mistake like that, but on the highway with 3 minors? Hard to understand, unless she was suicidal, or very impaired, would have to be more than one or 2 drinks.