Hwy. 129 Closed By Crash

A Gilroy mother lost control of her sport utility vehicle on a wet Highway 129, spun out and was broadsided by a work truck Tuesday morning.

The 24-year-old woman's two daughters, ages 18 months and 5 years, were banged up in the crash, according to California Highway Patrol officer Jaime Rios.

The two-vehicle collision happened at 10:50 a.m. and closed the highway just east of Old Chittenden Road and the San Benito-Santa Cruz county line.

The woman was heading toward Watsonville with her girls in a black 2000 Jeep Cherokee Laredo when she lost control going around a corner leading up to the Pajaro River bridge, Rios said. A 56-year-old man was driving east in a red 1994 Chevy pickup.

The truck broadsided the passenger side of the Jeep, crumpling the front end of the pickup and crushing the side of the Jeep, which had kids toys and child's bike in the back.

Rios said the pickup driver wasn't hurt. The truck had a South County Petroleum of Hollister logo on the door.

The mother and girls suffered "minor to major injuries," Rios said, explaining it wasn't clear how badly they were hurt. "It was all complaint of pain, no visible injuries."

They were taken by ambulance to area hospitals.

Rios said the wet roads contributed to the crash.

"With the unsafe weather conditions, the person driving the Jeep was going too fast," he said.

Caltrans workers enforced one-way traffic control on the road for about two hours while emergency crews responded to the crash and cleared the wrecked vehicles.