A very curvy road, not particularly well banked on turns, in an area that often sees a lot of rain. Especially lately, of course. That concrete barrier you see in the pix is a fairly recent install. For 60+ years that road was high-speed curvy freeway with nothing between the traffic directions. I’ve driven that road a fair number of times in the 45 years I’ve lived in CA; it’s one of those things where when you think about how many completely brain-dead people are in/come to CA and then add in one’s growing sense of risk aversion as one ages, it something I don’t do any more. One texting idiot will obliterate your whole day on that road.
On every road, I see many people driving like complete idiots, weaving in and out, and tailgating.
If a cop had a good unmarked car, and sat in the slow lane going the speed limit, he could take his pick of outrageous offenders. The unmarked cars they use now are much too obvious. What they need is something like blue Lexus with out-of-state plates.
9 minutes from Los Gatos to Fishhook in 1967 ... in my dads olds. Couldn’t beat that in my Corvette in later years. Should have been killed on that road many times.
A bureaucratic solution to the problem would be to re-number portions of the highway. If done properly, that would cut the number of collisions on Highway 17.
I think something similar was done to cut the high number of deaths on U.S. Highway 666. Now, the wrecks have dropped to zero. Be careful on U.S. Highway 491, however.
I used to drive that death trap regularly. There’s always one hotshot in a sports car who thinks he’s in a commercial trying to negotiate those turns way too fast.
When I lived in that area it seemed like one often heard of accidents on Route 17 involving drunk people coming back from the beach.
Texting and driving.
My former coworker son was studying at Santa Cruz. He came up to visit his family in the East Bay. Then he left one evening because he had class. Returning, he swerved and went to the side and hit a tree. The impact killed him instantly. Police believes he either swerved to let another car pass or was broadsided by another car
At his burial, the mother scream out “I HATE YOU 17!!! I HATE YOU. YOU TOOK MY SON”. God that was so painful to watch.
(1) Drink coffee beforehand to be fully awake.
(2) Enter the race.
(3) Concentrate on the driving and nothing else.
(4) Try to finish in the middle of the pack.
Hwy 17 on the East coast ain’t much better.