A single-car crash that left the vehicle flipped on its roof occurred on Oregon Expressway near the Park Boulevard underpass at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23.

The driver, an 82-year-old Palo Alto woman, was not seriously injured, Sgt. Kara Apple said. Apple said the woman was taken to Stanford Hospital as a precautionary measure because of her age and complaints of pain on her left side.

Traffic on Page Mill Road and El Camino Real was heavy as police redirected eastbound Oregon Expressway traffic onto Park Avenue while a tow truck moved the flipped vehicle.

“Luckily, because of the area and time of the day, there were a lot of officers in the area to redirect traffic around it,” Apple said.

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19 Comments

  1. Thanks to the City taking away two lanes on Charleston it was completely slammed had to drive all the way from PA med via charleston to get to Tennyson Ave.

  2. If this is a crash, what did the driver crash into? If it was a collision, what did the driver collide with? How does a car flip over without hitting something?

    I am so pleased that the driver didn’t appear to be seriously hurt, but I would like to know how something like this can happen.

    Accident? Definitely. Crash? With what?

  3. I would have assumed it was someone speeding around the pass who flipped, until I saw the driver was 82. I think elderly people need to be evaluated more regarding safety driving.

  4. I’m glad the lady was OK, but can’t say that for the traffic! I was on Park, wanting to take that ramp onto Oregon just before 3PM, and was directed to go further down Park Ave. Trouble was, I ended up having to go back out the El Camino, to get to East Meadow, since that was the closest way to get over the tracks. I wish there were more roads going under the tracks, instead of across them, since they are far and few between.
    I live in Midtown, work at Barron Park Elem. so there’s only the two crossings, Churchill Rd. or East Meadow. Took me 35 mins. to get home!

  5. People always complain when thet are inconvenienced due to an accident. At least you got to go home people. Get over yourself and have a little comapassion and understanding.

  6. I am guessing that she was taking the turn too fast, she did not stay on asphalt and went straight on the embankment that raised one side of the car and pushed the car back to the road and caused the car to flip.

    I think this is a good guess!

  8. Still haven’t heard what possessed that driver’s attention to flip her Toyota near Peers Park just six days ago. The car here also looks fairly undamaged for excessive speed to be the primary factor. I can’t tell whether she was coming down Oregon or coming around the on-ramp. Given the photo alone I might think the car drove off the parking lot above the embankment. Seat-belts are a wonderful idea.

  9. Time for the weekly showcase of how inept Palo Alto drivers are, followed by the comments that also show how selfish and rude Palo Alto drivers are. It must be weds.
    I expect the comments to start shifting blame to cyclists or pedestrians any post now.

  10. For those of you who simply must know every detail as to how this could have happened, the police on the scene said she was texting AND smoking at the time of the crash.

  12. I suspect tsk tsk from Midtown is just “toy toy”ing with us. But I still got a chuckle from his comment. I can’t imagine very many 82-year old women texting OR smoking, much less both at the same time.

  15. I am glad the driver was alright but I agree with Robit Noops that senior citizens should be tested more during driver evaluations. Their reaction time is not always the best and we have seen many incidents when a driver was to put on their brakes and got confused and put on the gas. I am not saying take away all their licenses, but I know for sure that there are some out driving out there who shouldn’t be. The fact she was texting and smoking, okay, I can go with the smoking, but texting – don’t think so.

  16. When you’re young and get into an accident, the suspicions of why are many. If you’re old, people will only assume one reason.

    I bet if you looked at the age breakdown of people who get into accidents, you would be surprised. Would people be calling for additional testing from the age group that is involved in the _most_ accidents?

  17. There are all kinds of restrictions on younger drivers and perhaps there should be more. Do we need similar restrictions on older drivers?

  18. restrictions: do the accident statistics for senior drivers support this? More so than other age groups? Look at the numbers before you claim there is a problem.

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