Crash scene
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY — There is little argument that as we age, our physical reaction times, auditory acuity, and range of visual and spatial perception declines over time.
It’s also a fact of life in California that the ability to drive a vehicle is critical to one’s personal freedom of movement through our modern world.
Occasionally, however, those two realities cross paths and violent collisions on our city streets are inevitable.
That appears to be the case behind the events on the streets of Santa Maria just after noon on March 29th when a Chevrolet Suburban—arguably one of the biggest personal vehicles on the road today—slammed into a Mercedes-Benz and careened through the front window of a South Broadway insurance brokerage office.
According to Santa Maria Police Department Traffic Officer Ronald Murillo, the Suburban, driven by 81-year-old Marciano Escutia, hit the Mercedes being driven by 30-year-old Marisol Manriquez in the middle of a major intersection with sufficient impact to send it through the front wall of Cruz Multiservices & Insurance and into the business’ lobby “where customers normally would be sitting.”
Seated at her desk inside the offices, Diane Cruz—who narrowly missed being struck by Escutia’s Suburban—observed the vehicle come to a rest just inches from her location. Immediately following the violent collision, “the Mercedes veered out of control,” Murillo reported, eventually hitting a tree where it came to a halt.
Injuries to both Escutia and his minor-age passengers as well as to Manriquez and her passenger were reported to have been minor.
For his part, Escutia was cited for his failure to yield to oncoming traffic, as well as for his failure to assure his two passengers were properly seatbelted.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Maria Police Department
