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Police: Driver at fault for striking pedestrians crossing El Camino

by Renee Batti

The 89-year-old driver of a vehicle that struck and seriously injured two women in an El Camino Real crosswalk on Sept. 30 was speeding and at fault for the accident, an Atherton Police Department investigation has concluded.

Police Lt. Joe Wade said Willie Haynes of Palo Alto had been traveling southbound on El Camino at 48 mph in the 35-mph zone when his Chevy Blazer struck the two women, who were crossing the six-lane roadway at Isabella Avenue.

The women, whose names haven't been released, were rushed to Stanford Hospital with major injuries, but survived. One woman is from Atherton, the other from Mountain View, Lt. Wade said earlier.

Just before the impact, Mr. Haynes had slowed his vehicle to 37 mph, Lt. Wade said. He remained at the scene after the collision and voluntarily submitted to a blood test for drugs and alcohol, police said at the time.

The investigation report made no mention of mitigating circumstances such as sight impediments on the roadway at the time, Lt. Wade said.

The case was forwarded to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office for review, but the police department is not recommending that criminal charges be filed, he said.

The accident was one of many that have injured or killed pedestrians and bicyclists trying to cross the section of El Camino Real that intersects Atherton. The Sept. 30 collision happened two years to the day that 62-year-old Christopher Chandler of Redwood City was struck and killed in the same crosswalk while riding his bicycle across the busy thoroughfare.