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A teen who was in a fatal car accident on Skyline Boulevard while driving to school on Monday, Aug. 27, has been identified as 17-year-old Blake Bottarini, a resident of Redwood City, according to the San Mateo County Coroner’s office.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the car he was driving went off Skyline Boulevard just north of the Skeggs Point parking lot.
He had stayed the night at his father’s house in La Honda and left for school around 7:10 a.m., according to CHP spokesperson Officer Art Montiel. He was a senior at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo.
Montiel said the teen was driving a Toyota Tacoma northbound on Skyline Boulevard when, for unknown reasons, the car left the roadway on the east side of the road and went down a 45-foot embankment.
It’s not yet known precisely what time the crash happened, Montiel said, but the accident is believed to have occurred between 7:30 and 8 a.m.
The CHP received a call from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office about a car down an embankment shortly before 1 p.m. Monday, he said.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, Montiel said.
CHP officers initiated one-way traffic control after arriving on scene, and at 3:30 p.m. both lanes were blocked in the area so that a tow truck could retrieve the vehicle, he said. The roadway fully reopened just after 4:30 p.m.
Officials at Junipero Serra High School said that they are heartbroken over the news. In an email that was sent to families at the high school, they expressed condolences for the Bottarini family, including Blake’s parents and twin brother, Evan. The statement was signed by the school’s president, Lars Lund, and its principal, Barry Thornton.
“Blake will always be remembered as a kind and caring young man. His family, friends and Serra classmates were very important to him, and he was a very important person in their lives,” the statement said.
The school officials offered counseling services to students and encouraged the prayers of friends and family.
Julia Brown contributed to this report.
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Stay off the cell phones all phones should be deactivated when the vehicle is moving
It is easy to assume it was cell phone usage related, but it easily could not have been. It was foggy and wet that particular morning in Skyline. Regardless, it is a terrible tragedy. My condolences to the family.