All lanes and ramps have reopened on U.S. Highway 101 in Palo Alto following a fatal crash Friday morning that involved a California Highway Patrol vehicle, according to the CHP.
The collision was reported at 6:49 a.m. at Embarcadero Road. A Sig-alert was issued around 7 a.m., CHP Officer Amelia Jack said.
All lanes were open at 1:20 p.m., however the Embarcadero Road off-ramp and Oregon Expressway on-ramp remained closed until just after 4:30 p.m., according to the CHP.
The gold Lexus SUV that crashed into a CHP vehicle that was pulled over on the right-hand side of the road was occupied by a San Bruno family, with the father driving, the mother in the passenger seat and four sisters sitting in the back seats, Jack said.
A 24-year-old woman, the oldest of the siblings, was ejected with another sister from the SUV after the SUV struck the CHP vehicle.
The 24-year-old was killed while the other sister suffered major injuries, Jack said.
Before the crash, the CHP vehicle had pulled up next to a broken-down white pickup truck that was pulled over on the right-hand shoulder, Jack said.
After speaking to the truck's occupants, the CHP officer pulled up in front of the truck, which is when the SUV swerved into the shoulder for unknown reasons and hit the left side of the patrol vehicle, Jack said.
The SUV then flipped and come to a rest on the Embarcadero Road off-ramp after the two sisters were ejected. The parents and two other sisters in the SUV, who were all wearing seatbelts, suffered various major and minor injuries, Jack said. Jack said it is unclear if the sisters ejected were wearing seatbelts.
The CHP officer suffered minor injuries in the crash. He was the sole occupant in the vehicle. He was taken to a hospital where he was treated. He has since been released, Jack said.
Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the collision, Jack said.
Following the crash, traffic was backed up as far south as the junction with state Highway 85, about five miles away, Jack said.
-- Bay City News
