Update: Broadside crash on Lander Avenue in Turlock kills 4 from Turlock and Modesto
Four people, including a Modesto man, a Turlock couple and their teenage daughter, died as a result of a two-vehicle crash just south of Turlock on Sunday morning, the California Highway Patrol reported. The couple’s two other children were “fighting for their lives” as of Sunday evening, CHP Sgt. James Yates told The Bee.
The crash happened shortly before 9:30 a.m. at Lander and Greenway avenues south of Highway 99. The Modesto driver, age 22, was alone in a 2008 Infiniti, traveling north on Lander, Yates said. The Turlock family was westbound on Greenway in a 2023 Jeep.
There are stop signs for drivers on Greenway but not Lander, which has a 55 mph speed limit in that area. The circumstances of the crash are under investigation, Yates said. Morning fog had lifted and the conditions were clear, he said.
The Infiniti broadsided the Jeep on the driver side, the sergeant said, and “we don’t yet know how the Jeep ended up in front of the Infiniti.” A news release from the CHP later Sunday reads in part, “The driver of the Jeep entered the intersection directly in front of the Infiniti. The front of the Infiniti struck the left side of the Jeep.” The release also says the Infiniti driver was traveling at “a high rate of speed.”
The Jeep driver, age 54, his wife, age 45, and the Infiniti driver, age 22, all were declared dead at the scene, Yates said. The couple’s children — a 19-year-old daughter, 16-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son — were taken to trauma centers for treatment. The 16-year-old girl died at a hospital.
All occupants of the Jeep were wearing their seat belts, but the Infiniti driver was not, Yates said. It has not yet been determined if alcohol or drugs factored into the collision, he said.
This story was originally published December 15, 2024 at 2:29 PM.
