Thursday morning commuter chaos

How one crash led to another

The morning commute has been harrowing for people climbing the hill to Los Alamos lately. It was especially so in the early hours of Oct. 3. What began as a single collision between a motorcycle and a car would, over the next several hours, escalate into a multi-vehicle pileup, leaving several injured and many drivers stuck in traffic.

The first crash: motorcyclist pinned under car

According to a police report, Antonio R. Fong, 49, was riding his 2012 BMW motorcycle southbound on NM 502 at about 6:45 a.m. when he was cut off by a 1998 Honda Accord and collided with it. The report, obtained by Boomtown from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office (SFCSO) through an Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) request, stated that the Accord, driven by 37-year-old Kathy Martinez, was making a left turn onto East Jemez Road, also known as the Truck Route (see diagram, below). 

Fong would later tell SFCSO Deputy Kyle Blakely that he had a green light to proceed through the intersection when he saw a passenger car pull out in front of him. Witnesses at the scene corroborated Fong’s account, noting that he appeared to have the right of way.

Martinez told police she also had a green light, though not a green arrow for her left turn. She said she did not see Fong’s motorcycle.

A diagram of the crash from the police report showing the motorcycle (vehicle 1) and the Honda Accord (vehicle 2)

The resulting collision left Fong pinned beneath his motorcycle. First responders from the Los Alamos Fire Department quickly arrived on the scene, freeing Fong and transporting him to Los Alamos Medical Center. Though the report says Fong was conscious and alert when he was transported, the extent of his injuries is unknown.

As law enforcement began their investigation and worked to clear the scene, traffic on the busy commuter route began to back up. 

A chain reaction: four more cars pile up

Nearly an hour and a half later, at around 8:20 a.m., there was a second crash, this one near the NM 502 - NM 4 intersection, known as “the Y.” Angelica Gurule, 41, was driving her 2015 Toyota Camry through the traffic jam from the first crash when she was rear-ended, according to a separate police report from the SFCSO. “Angelica advised me that traffic was backed up on NM 502 due to a motor vehicle accident that had happened ahead,” wrote Deputy Dominick Rodriguez in his report. “Angelica was traveling slowly with the traffic flow when she suddenly was rear-ended, resulting in heavy damage to the rear end of her vehicle.” 

The other driver, 33-year-old Tamara Posavcic, was in a black 2016 Kia Optima. She estimated she was going 55 miles per hour; this is the posted speed limit, but the rest of traffic was moving much more slowly. She explained to Rodriguez that she saw the Camry in front of her at a full stop, but didn’t have time to avoid crashing into it. The resulting rear-end collision pushed Gurule’s Camry onto the shoulder, while Posavcic’s Optima was left disabled in the travel lane.

But the chaos wasn’t over. As drivers behind the Gurule-Posavcic crash attempted to avoid it, two more vehicles collided — these crashes were nearly simultaneous, according to the report, which states that Micayela Kyrlowicz, 35, in a 2015 Dodge Durango, stopped suddenly to avoid the wreckage. “Micayela advised me that she had to slam on her brakes due to the collision with Angelica and Tamara that happened in front of her,” says the report. “When she slammed the brakes she was hit in the rear end of her vehicle by the red Kia.” The red Kia (a 2011 Optima) was driven by Faith Archuleta, 16. “Micayela and Faith were both able to drive their vehicles from the scene due to only receiving minor damage,” the report says.

This diagram illustrates the two crashes that occurred nearly simultaneously on NM 502 near the Y on Oct. 3. V1 is the Camry, V2 is the 2016 black Kia Optima, V3 is the Durango, and V4 is the 2011 red Kia Optima.

The aftermath

As first responders processed the scene, the tally of the morning’s events became clear. Fong, from the initial motorcycle crash, was hospitalized with unknown injuries. Gurule and her 12-year-old son were transported to Los Alamos Medical Center complaining of back pain. The other drivers and passengers, while shaken, escaped without serious injury — according to the police reports.

The incidents snarled traffic for hours. The first crash site wasn’t cleared until 8:14 a.m., nearly an hour and a half after it occurred. The second crash scene, more complex due to the number of vehicles involved, wasn't fully cleared until 10:01 a.m., more than three hours after the initial collision.

In the first incident, Martinez was issued a citation for failure to yield, to be filed in the Santa Fe Magistrate Court. The second crash resulted in a citation for Posavcic for “driver to be licensed,” after it was discovered she did not possess a valid U.S. driver’s license — though she told the officer she was in the process of obtaining one in New Mexico.

Police sources confirmed to Boomtown that there were even more crashes the morning of Oct. 3, including one further west on NM 502. Boomtown is still waiting for the Los Alamos Police Department to release their own official reports from that morning; we will update this story as we learn more.