8-year-old killed in crash near Sunol

An 8-year-old girl died and her father was critically injured early Friday morning in a rear-end crash on northbound Interstate 680 near Sunol, the California Highway Patrol said.

The crash happened at 12:20 a.m. near State Route 84 and a roadway construction site, said CHP Officer Tyler Hahn. Traffic around the construction had been slowing or coming to a stop, he said.

“In the car was a father who was driving, and a mother, and an 8-year-old girl,” Hahn said. “He rear-ended another car at a pretty high rate of speed.”

Hahn said the driver told investigators he might have been drowsy or falling asleep. The girl died at the scene, and the father, 39, was taken to a hospital in critical condition. The mother, who was in the passenger seat, suffered minor injuries, as did the driver of the other car, the CHP said.

Hahn said neither alcohol nor drugs appeared to be factors in the crash. “It’s pretty sad,” he said.

As in a recent fatal crash in Healdsburg, late-night road construction was a factor.

“Unfortunately, with the way that the roadways are, and the amount of traffic on them, it’s really the only time to do it,” Hahn said. “So anytime you have a roadway that’s normally doing 65 and then either Caltrans or another agency puts in these closures, you have to exercise extra caution.”