Instead Barajas' Toyota careened for some 100 feet through a ditch, crashed head on into Graham, and hit a white 1999 Ford van before flipping on its roof. The van driver skidded 200 feet and escaped unharmed. Barajas and Graham died instantly, according to Davies, who has maintained in the past that Highway 25, with a 78 percent increase in traffic between 1990 and 1998 alone, is stretched beyond capacity. Likewise, until Davies received a grant last summer for overtime patrols on the road, his unit had been patrolling sprawling southern Silicon Valley at 1980s staffing levels. Besides the increase in traffic, however, the narrow shouldered road is badly designed for recovery from minor traffic errors, Davies said.
Narrow shoulders mean no room to avoid collisions or correct driving mistakes.
Task Force is fighting for the improvements that we need on this road. Davies is head of the Task Force that is pushing state officials and other authorities for improvements on the notorious road. He has had to assist in the aftermath of every one of its 14 fatalities since February 2000. Witnesses said there was no other traffic, no one was speeding, there was no farm equipment moving, no one was driving aggressively. The accident happened one year to the month after Pike announced his petition drive that drew Sacramento's attention to the road and helped line up safety improvements.