Even though I'm a writer by trade, I'll admit that this picture is worth a bucket of words.



The good news is that the people in this car are OK. The CHP reported that the 58-year-old driver and the 8-year-old girl in her car suffered only abrasions and complaints of pain. In a prepared statement, CHP officials said their seatbelts "undoubtedly" saved their lives.

Here's the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA BARBARA AREA CHP

THREE VEHICLE COLLISION RUNS ONE OF THE VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD AND OVER A CLIFF.

On Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at approx. 0730 hrs, CHP, fire and ambulance personnel received a call of a three vehicle collision, southbound US-101, north of Evans ave.
Responding units arrived on scene to find three vehicles involved with one approximately 100 feet over the edge of a cliff on the west side of the roadway.
Patrick Joerger, 23, of Ventura was driving his 2005 Chevy Express van, southbound US-101, north of Evans Ave. in the left hand #1 lane, at approx. 60-65 mph. A Toyota Highlander (Unk. Year), driven by Etelina Figueroa, 58, of Carpinteria, was southbound US-101, in the left hand #1 lane directly in front of Mr. Joerger's van. A 2002 GMC Sierra, towing a woodchipper, driven by Nicolas Pinedo, 47, of Ventura, was southbound US-101, in the right hand #2 lane, directly next to Mr. Joerger and Ms. Figueroa.
Mr. Joerger's van struck the rear of the Highlander, sending the Highlander out of control. The Highlander crossed the #2 lane and the right shoulder before plummeting over a large cliff, coming to rest on its roof near the railroad tracks. This impact caused Mr. Joerger to lose control of his van and it also crossed into the #2 lane and struck Mr. Pinedo's GMC Sierra. Both vehicles came to rest on the right shoulder of southbound US-101.
Ms. Figueroa and her 8 year-old female passenger were transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with complaints of pain and abrasions, with Ms. Figueroa being admitted for observation. Both were wearing seatbelts which undoubtedly saved their lives. Mr. Pinedo was also transported to Cottage hospital with complaints of pain, treated and released. Mr. Joerger also sustained minor injuries.
Alcohol/drugs were not a factor in this collision. 

It was several hours after the accident, and medical examiners had already taken away the victim's body, but some gruesome evidence remained.

Behind the spot where the pedestrian came to rest after a driver hit him, his hat, a pair of headphones and one of his shoes sat on the roadway.

It was Sept. 3, and a few hours earlier, Eulogio Garcia Sanchez, 53, of Oxnard had been wearing them as he crossed the C Street at Elm Street in the pre-dawn dark, heading for a bus to go have coffee with friends.

When I zoomed in with my video camera, I could see the black hat had the word "cobra" written on it, and the black tennis shoe still had its laces tied. There was nothing gruesome about the items on their own, but there on the pavement, they were stark reminders of what cars can do to a human body.

Sanchez was by no means the first pedestrian knocked literally out of his shoes when a car hit him.

I can recall several recent accidents in Ventura County in which the same thing happened.

When Karey Marsh, 46, of Thousand Oaks,  was hit by an allegedly drunken driver while she was jogging near the edge of Oak Park last month, the impact threw her an estimated 30 feet into nearby shrubs but left her shoes behind, authorities said. In fact, emergency responders only knew a pedestrian had been hit because of those shoes.

And when an intoxicated driver slammed into an SUV on the side of the road and Officer Tony Pedeferri of the California Highway Patrol in December 2007, the impact launched Pedeferri 20 yards and threw him out of his boots. (The crash killed the driver of the SUV, who Pedeferri had pulled over.)

I first heard of someone being knocked out of his shoes when I was reporting on the crash that injured Officer Pedeferri.

When I first heard the detail, I thought to myself: I didn't know that could happen.

It seemed improbable, physically possible -- of course, objects at rest are inclined to stay at rest and all -- but incredible. Imagine the force necessary to throw a person so hard that a garment fastened to his or her body is pulled off by the impact alone.

It's something I would need a much better understanding physics than I have to really comprehend.

I asked a police contact and another from the medical examiner's office: Is this common? Neither common nor uncommon, they told me. It depends on a lot of things, but it does happen.

Most of us drive every day, some of us for hours, but how often do we consider that our cars are metal boxes weighing thousands of pounds, hurtling down the street at speeds that are mind boggling, especially when you compare it to the pedestrians, cyclists and others with whom we share the road.

Stay safe out there.

Here are links to some of of our articles and videos that relate to this topic:

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/sep/04/pedestrian-crossing-street-is-hit-and-killed/

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/aug/27/to-jogger-struck-by-vehicle-killed/

http://gallery.venturacountystar.com/video.cfm?VideoID=556

http://gallery.venturacountystar.com/video.cfm?VideoID=188

http://gallery.venturacountystar.com/video.cfm?VideoID=563

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/dec/21/chp-officer-remains-in-critical-condition/

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jul/03/injured-chp-officer-home-after-6-months-of/