Deadly 4 Vehicle Accident in Stockton Leaves Two Dead

A deadly 4 vehicle accident occurred in Stockton, California on April 24, 2014 at the intersection of West Lane and Frontage Road. The crash happened at 7:45pm. According to investigators with the Stockton Police Department, a white Honda SUV was travelling northbound on West Lane when it proceeded to run a red light and crashed into an Acura. The Acura then collided with two other vehicles driving near the intersection.

Both occupants of the Acura, Sokhunthear Hin, 18, and Ritche Rasmee, 20, died at the scene, while the occupants of the other two cars were not injured. Investigators say the occupants of the Honda SUV then fled the accident scene on foot. Stockton police later apprehended one of the occupants of the Honda SUV, later identified by authorities as 23 year old Brittney Tamayo.

Police are continuing their search for the second occupant, identified at this time only as a black male. Investigators later confirmed that Tamayo was the driver of the Honda SUV.

This fatal accident underscores the importance of drivers to pay the utmost attention to traffic signals when coming upon a four-way intersection, as the potential dangers of red light running are severe, can lead to serious injury, or have even life-ending consequences. As with any accident on our roadways, it takes only a brief, momentary lapse in attention or judgment to have the kind of tragedy we all fear happening become a painful reality. Every day when we take to the freeways, we are at the mercy of careless drivers who are negligent of their responsibility to adhere to traffic laws that are designed to keep us all safe.

According to a nationwide survey of red light running, in which California was one of the 10 states targeted for the study, drivers are increasingly not stopping at intersections when the light turns red. This disturbing phenomenon of careless, reckless and negligent behavior by irresponsible drivers has resulted in a significant increase in the number of crashes occurring at intersections.

Those who run red lights are typically known to have more violations on their driving records and are also usually “aggressive” drivers. Red light runners have also been known to exhibit tendencies toward other reckless traffic-related behaviors such as tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, excessive speeding, and the road rage behavior of gesturing angrily at other vehicle occupants.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has declared red light running to be the leading cause of auto accidents in urban areas, resulting in over 165,000 injuries and over 800 deaths in 1.8 million accidents at intersections in 2005.

Fatalities as a result of drivers running a red light are increasing at more than three times the rate of all other crashes involving fatalities. This does not even take into account the property damages and, more importantly, the emotional and physical trauma incurred by the survivors of these accidents. Accidents that could have most certainly been avoided were it not for the negligence of the driver at fault.