Driver Goes Five Miles The Wrong Way On Highway 17, Killed In Crash

In California, there has been a particularly tough stance taken on the crime of driving under the influence. Beginning from the arrest, the DMV will suspend a driver’s license who has been charged with DUI. The suspension will take place within 30 days after the arrest. For a first time DUI, the driver is looking at spending anywhere from 24 hours to 6 months in jail. The driver may be ordered to attend DUI school, a rehabilitation program, probation, and possibly have an ignition interlock system installed on the vehicle. After a first time DUI, the penalties begin to escalate in terms of severity. 

The Mercury News reports that a woman has been killed after she drove the wrong way for 5 miles on Highway 17. The crash occurred early on Friday morning on Interstate 880. The first call to 911 came in at about 3:21 a.m. reporting that a Honda Accord was driving southbound in the northbound lanes of the interstate near Coleman Avenue. Within a few minutes of that report, another call came in reporting a collision after I-880 turned into Highway 17. 

Officers arrived to find the Honda Accord on the right shoulder and a Toyota in the center median, with both cars having significant damage. The Honda had crashed head-on into the Toyota as it drove southbound. The driver of the Accord was pronounced dead on the scene at about 3:40 a.m. She was only identified as a woman who was possibly in her late 20s. The driver of the Toyota suffered from significant injuries. 

The interior of the Accord smelled of alcohol, leading authorities to believe that the driver may have been intoxicated.

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