Woman trapped after TOYOTA slams into building in Castro Valley

Woman trapped after car slams into building in Castro Valley

http://kron4.com/2015/10/02/car-drives-into-building-in-castro-valley/

Castro Valley: Woman injured when car crashes into building

By Chris De Benedetti cdebenedetti@bayareanewsgroup.com

POSTED:   10/02/2015

CASTRO VALLEY -- A 55-year-old woman was injured Friday morning the the car she was driving flipped and landed on its roof inside a building, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

The collision happened at 7:10 a.m. when the motorist was driving a four-door Toyota sedan southbound on Lake Chabot Road, Officer Dan Jacowitz said.

When she tried to turn onto Castro Valley Boulevard, she instead kept going south and sheared a light pole, hit a PG&E box, careened over a median, flipped over and crashed into an optometry office, Jacowitz said.

The car landed on its roof inside Primary Eyecare Optometrics at 2687 Castro Valley Blvd., he said.

The woman, a Hayward resident, was trapped until Alameda County firefighters used hydraulic rescue tools to get her out of the car, authorities said.

She suffered major injuries and was taken to an East Bay hospital, police said.

Witnesses said she was driving more than 60 mph in an area where the speed limit is 35, Jacowitz said.

"She was traveling so fast the light pole she sheared was thrown 80 feet into the air and it landed in the same building she crashed into," he said.

No other injuries were reported. The optometry business was closed at the time of the collision.

The intersection's traffic lights in all four directions were malfunctioning after the collision, Jacowitz said.

Alameda County Sheriff's deputies directed traffic at the scene until PG&E and county crews repaired the traffic lights shortly before 11 a.m., police said.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28911755/castro-valley-woman-injured-solo-vehicle-crash-into