Guthrie Fatalities Probably Avoidable

Staff Reports

The Guthrie Interchange in San Bernardino claimed three lives over nine days this month, with driver speed or heedlessness cited by authorities as factors in each accident.

All three accidents occurred in broad daylight at different points of the interchange, so that it wasn't any particular curve that caught drivers off guard.

Perhaps all three fatalities might have been prevented had the drivers paid more attention and slowed down in negotiating the broad, sweeping loops of the mammoth freeway interchange.

Clearly, the junction of the Interstates 10 and 215 requires greater driver attentiveness, as well as a need to drive at a reasonable speed on its turns. Failure to take the proper precautions can have tragic consequences.

On June 7, Carisa Rodriguez, 21, of Bloomington died when the car she was driving struck a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder of Interstate 215.

Jose Leon, 28, of San Bernardino had pulled over along the shoulder of southbound I-215 where it meets the transition ramp from I-10 to adjust the rig's load at about 8:10 a.m. His warning flashers were on.

As Rodriguez was driving down the I-10 overpass, she attempted to cut across the shoulder area where the tractor-trailer was parked, crashing into the back of it. Leon, however, was spared.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the accident. It's unclear why Rodriguez attempted to cut across the shoulder of the freeway when the tractor-trailer was parked there. But CHP spokesman Kevin Haney said Rodriguez may have been checking over her shoulder for traffic and didn't see the big rig.

On June 14, 18-year-old Jessica Estrada was killed hours before her graduation from Rialto High School. The car Estrada was riding in while she was on her way home from morning graduation practice veered off the freeway and crashed into a palm tree.

The car's driver, Rebecca Johnson, 18, driving southbound on I-215 at 11:30 a.m., attempted to go west on Interstate 10 but failed to make the turn. The car rolled before striking the palm tree. The Highway Patrol is seeking involuntary manslaughter charges against Johnson "based on unsafe driving and turning movements."

And in the third accident, on June 15, the life of Federal Express driver Troy Lynn Brown, 32, of Fontana was cut short when his truck was rear-ended at 9 a.m. by a car going about 100 mph clearly too fast.

Mustang driver Richard Harrison, 58, of San Bernardino was taking the transition from I-10 east onto I-215 north when he pulled back into the No. 2 lane and slammed into the back of the Federal Express truck just before the Orange Show Road exit. The impact sent the truck crashing into a telephone call box, down an embankment and into a tree.

Haney said Harrison may face criminal charges.

The cluster of accidents offers a stark reminder that motorists must pay strict attention to the possible injurious consequences of their driving, be mindful of the rights of others with whom they share the road and refrain from rash driving habits. We all need to keep in mind that it takes only a second for self-centered driving to become a fatal pursuit.

The San Bernardino County Sun, Saturday, June 24, 2000