The California Highway Patrol finished its investigation into
the single-car accident Oct. 17 involving former Pinnacle reporter
Kate Woods and concluded she had been driving at an unsafe speed at
Panoche and Recaldi roads, according to a CHP spokesman.
The California Highway Patrol finished its investigation into the single-car accident Oct. 17 involving former Pinnacle reporter Kate Woods and concluded she had been driving at an unsafe speed at Panoche and Recaldi roads, according to a CHP spokesman.
She did not receive any citations, and it is “unknown” whether alcohol was a factor because it appears the responding officer did not follow up – which routinely is done in similar cases – by requesting a blood test at a San Jose hospital, said Jamie Rios, a spokesman with the Gilroy-Hollister CHP bureau.
Woods was discharged from the hospital Saturday three weeks after the accident in southern San Benito County left her in critical condition. At about 11:30 p.m. Oct. 17, she drove a 1995 Mazda Miata off the road at Panoche and Recaldi roads. The vehicle turned over, and she was ejected from the car.
Rios noted how Woods had been airlifted from the scene before the responding officer arrived.
“Usually our officers will go down to the hospital and request a blood test,” Rios said. “However, I don’t think one was done.”
Woods had been listed in critical condition for nearly two weeks before being upgraded in status to serious condition and ultimately released from the hospital.
As a longtime reporter for the Pinnacle, Woods was known for her coverage of local government and a weekly column called “Report from the Badlands.”
