Two women, one a bicyclist, are killed in crashes

Traffic tragedies take place on a rural road and on Highway 101 in Gilroy

SANTA CLARA COUNTY >> Two San Jose women, one of them on a bicycle, were killed in separate traffic crashes over the weekend in the southern Santa Clara Valley, the California Highway Patrol said.

The crash that killed the bicyclist was reported at 7:40 a.m. Saturday on Hale Avenue north of Blossom Court in the unincorporated community of Coyote.

The CHP said a 26-yearold Morgan Hill man was driving a 2003 Honda southbound when he drifted onto the paved shoulder and hit the 51-year-old cyclist. She was thrown from the bicycle.

The man pulled over and dialed 911, the CHP said, and passersby stopped to help.

The CHP said it did not appear alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash. Hale is a two-lane road with a speed limit of 45 mph.

Several hours earlier, a 27-year-old San Jose woman was killed in a solo-vehicle crash at 1:15 a.m. on northbound Highway 101 north of Leavesley Road in Gilroy.

The CHP said the woman made an “unsafe turning movement,” which caused her 1996 Toyota Avalon to travel off the roadway and overturn multiple times. An initial investigation indicated she was not wearing a seat belt.

It was not immediately known if alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash, the CHP said.

The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office will release the identities of the women once they have been confirmed and their next of kin are notified.

Anyone with information about the collisions can contact the HollisterGilroy area CHP office at 408-848-2324.