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101 accident victim identified
Tractor-trailer rear ends Woodland Hills man's vehicle
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James Glover II / Star staff CHP Officer Brandon Mumme walks past a Mercedes that was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer on Highway 101 at the Westlake Boulevard exit Monday in Thousand Oaks. The driver of the vehicle, a man from Woodland Hills, was killed.
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More from Conejo ValleyThe man killed in a collision between a car and a tractor-trailer Wednesday morning on Highway 101 in Thousand Oaks has been identified as Kunhi Ahn, officials said.
Ahn, 69, a resident of Woodland Hills was on his way to work in Moorpark when the car he was driving was rear-ended by a big rig driven by Mark Sanders, 49, of South Gate.
Ahn was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:22 a.m., Chief Deputy Medical Examiner Armando Chavez said.
An autopsy is scheduled this morning to determine the cause of death.
Sanders was not injured.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of crash that was reported at 11:02 a.m. and occurred between the Westlake Boulevard onramp and the Hampshire Road offramp.
Sanders was northbound on the 101 in the slow lane, or No. 4 lane, when be began to brake as traffic slowed, CHP Officer Brandon Mumme said.
The car, a 2006 Mercedes Benz, appeared suddenly in front of the tractor trailer.
"He doesn't know where the Mercedes came from," Mumme said. "He doesn't know if it came from the onramp or the No. 3 lane."
The big rig rear-ended the car, pushing it into the lane used to merge onto or exit the highway. The rear of the Mercedes Benz was crushed and its front bumper torn off.
The crash sounded like something falling off of a big truck, said Thomas Ruschke, 24, of Oak Park, who was standing nearby.
"It was a really loud bang," said Ruschke, who had been standing in a lot at the auto mall on the north side of the highway.
Ruschke ran from the lot and across a small gully to get to the highway to see if he could help. He said another employee from an auto dealer reached the accident scene first, and a number of people who were driving on the highway stopped to help as well.
"It was pretty impressive," Ruschke said of the size of the group that was ready to lend a hand.
The CHP's Mumme said there were two witnesses who could place the tractor-trailer in the fourth lane, but they could not give officers more information.
The Mercedes Benz is registered to someone in Woodland Hills, Mumme said, adding that the driver was not the registered owner.
The collision caused northbound traffic to slow, resulting in a backup that stretched as far back as the Lindero Canyon Road interchange, more than a mile away.
Posted by toyrunner on July 12, 2007 at 3:23 a.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by fdsa on July 12, 2007 at 6:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That is the worst on-ramp off-ramp design in the first place. The only way to safely merge onto that freeway from WL BLVD is to speed. There are two on-ramps and one off-ramp all in the same lane, and when you merge onto the freeway, you need to avoid the other drivers who are also merging. The only solution is to acheive a high speed immediately and then merge into the #4 lane. But at the same time, drivers merging into the off-ramp are slowing down. And since nobody follows other cars at a safe distance, an accident like this was bound to happen. I bet that this man was hit because he was allowing for a safe distance (he obviously wouldn't want to crash someone else's car). And since he was being a defensive driver, he had no time to actually merge onto the freeway until the last minute at a slow speed... in front of a truck. This accident obviously shows that going too slow is unsafe, and that large trucks should be going 55mph. Officer Mumme should have been doing his job in the first place and pulled that speeding tractor trailer driver over at Lindero. But let's not criticize any government employee for doing too little. I just hope that this accident forces major change at that horrendous on-ramp. Put Mumme on administrative leave and re-stripe that on-ramp. The family should seek damages from the truck driver and the state because they designed a lousy set of lanes that places drivers in peril.
Posted by notmercedesfault on July 12, 2007 at 7:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I like the fact that all of you are taking the big rig driver's story and believe every word of it. I was traveling north on the 101 freeway in the number 2 lane at 11:00am. As i passed by Westlake Blvd. I noticed the silver mercedes in the # 4 lane with his hazard lights flashing traveling approximately 10 mph. As i drove passed the mercedes i looked in my rear view mirror wondering why he was going so slow and was in shock by the fast approaching big rig directly behind the mercedes. At no time did i hear an air horn go off and I drove by the accident scene later in the day and noticed no break marks from the big rig. I think that when the CHP completes it's investigation the truth will come out. That poor man was in the # 4 lane already with his hazard lights on. He was not merging from the exit/entrance lane. This is the truck drivers fault without a doubt.
Posted by Whosaidwhat on July 12, 2007 at 7:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you fdsa for our driving 101 lesson..
RIP Kunhi, my condlences to the family.
And good job to all the people who ran to the scene willing to lend a hand...
Posted by uknow1 on July 12, 2007 at 7:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Speed does kill, and going too slow of a speed also kills A LOT of people! If he was doing 10 m.p.h. and everyone else was doing 30 in stop and go traffic, HE set himself up for a crash. Should have been on the shoulder already IF what notmercedesfault said is true, flashers on or not. Whereas a driver is almost always at fault for rear-ending another vehicle, sometimes there are extenuating circumstances.
Posted by notmercedesfault on July 12, 2007 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i first called 911 when i witnessed the accident and then called back later in the day to give my story. they said if they need help they will call me.
Posted by notmercedesfault on July 12, 2007 at 8:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What I don't understand is why the man was only going 10mph. When I was driving by him I was going 65-70mph with the flow of the rest of traffic. I have to assume he either ran out of gas or something was wrong with his vehicle. even if he was going that slow other drivers noticed his hazard lights flashing and got out of the way. i heard no air horn or brakes screeching from the big rig. i imagine he wasn't paying attention. it was the worst accident i have ever seen and still feel sick to my stomach about seeing it.
Posted by dushkeslaw on July 12, 2007 at 11:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's a wild theory - Maybe the victim was suffering a heart attack and that's why he was driving at 10 mph with his emergency flashers on. Then the semi hit him, but he died not from the crash, but from the heart attack. Anyway you look at it, a sad way to go.
Posted by fdsa on July 12, 2007 at 5:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There are many problems in CA. Too much of this, too little of that. The fact is that accidents happen and can be avoided. What I can't understand is how that car can be so badly damaged. How could it possibly make sense that the driver in the Mercedes switched lanes in front of that truck? I'm sure we've all seen clips on ESPN of NASCAR accidents... not that any of us are NASCAR fans. But these cars are traveling in excess of 100mph and the rate and velocity of the impact wouldn't even come close to what I see in that picture of the Mercedes. It's obvious to me that the truck must have impacted that vehicle at a VERY HIGH rate of speed. If the Mercedes was going 10mph, that impact would have been at 70+mph. It angers me that someone could not take responsibility for being safe, especially when he/she is driving a 10+ ton vehicle. Cell phones, road rage, time constraints... these are all factors. But to slam into someone at such a high rate of speed is obvious lack of attention. And such lack of attention while in "control" of such a large vehicle is gross negligence.
Posted by HavingMySay on July 12, 2007 at 7:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
fdsa you seem to have quite a chip on your shoulder. How can this be Officer Mumme's fault? As far as the damage, it is a huge truck, it is not going to tap the bumper, this is not NASCAR where they are all equal and how do you know if cell phones, road rage or time constraints had anything to do with it. Don't use this forum for your rants about things that aren't related.
Posted by Ventura22 on July 13, 2007 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I trust the trucker, who was traveling in the appropriate lane for trucks as he should have been. I watch drivers in smaller vehicles do stupid things, darting in front of these beasts every day. When will people learn that the truck can't stop as fast as a car, and they can't see drivers in their blind spots. Guess what folks, in a collision like that, truck always wins...regardless of who was not paying attention. Quit the finger-pointing BS & be more cautious around heavy vehicles; common sense if you want to stay alive! Learn from this.
Posted by nancyahn on July 13, 2007 at 10:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
thank you to those who understand the horrible tragedy of this all. kunhi ahn is my uncle who had been a part of my life since the day i was born. a special thanks to those who personally witnessed this terrible event and back up my uncle. i KNOW that my uncle is a very safe and alert driver. he has lived in woodland hills for as long as i can remember and drove regularly to work from home without any issues. he obviously was having some sort of problem, considering he had his hazard lights on.
for those of you who didn't witness this tragedy first-hand, i feel sorry for you. you are obviously the type of people that jump to conclusions and make assumptions before gathering all the evidence and facts.
he was in fact a doctor and was on his way to work when this happened. the driver of the truck is obviously not going to admit fault. for those of you who side with the driver, did you ever consider that some drivers do fall asleep at the wheel after driving ridiculously long hours or may take "uppers" to stay up, compromising their alertness?
again, many thanks and big hugs to those with kind hearts and words.
my uncle was an amazing person and he will be deeply missed.
Posted by sog55 on July 14, 2007 at 3:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
VENTURA22 i agree with you. people do drive like morons around these trucks and expect them to stop on a dime. unfortunetly its just not possible. my dad was a truck driver for 50 years and i've seen it firsthand from inside the cab. but it does sound like the truck driver was at fault in this instance. these truck drivers are almost always on strict deadlines and often they are borderline reckless the way they drive just to get to their destination on time.we'll have to wait and see when all the facts come out. you never know when its your time.my prayers are with their family.
Posted by sad on July 15, 2007 at 5:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Dear Nancy,
My heart goes out to you and your family. I worked with Dr. Ahn for 10 years. While I agree that there are a great many idiots racing around cutting off large trucks, as I have personally seen on many occasion, it saddens me that anyone would come to that conclusion about Kuhni Ahn. We have had so many patients and surgeons rave about how wonderful a doctor he was, but even they may not have had the chance to really get to know him as a person. He was such a conscientious, careful, caring human being. I would bet this was the first accident he ever had. He is dearly missed.
Posted by olreliable on July 17, 2007 at 9:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No matter whose fault it is, the truck driver will have to live with the fact that he killed someone. My heart goes out to him and the family... It seems like changes to freeways and streets are never made until someone dies.
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