A 25-year-old woman was killed and another woman injured after they were ejected onto southbound Highway 17 in Los Gatos from their limousine party bus late Friday night, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.
The fatal accident on Highway 17 near state Highway 9 was reported just before midnight, CHP Officer D.J. Sarabia said.
The limo was carrying 12 to 15 passengers when the 25-year-old woman was run over by the limo after she was in a fight on the party bus with a 20-year-old woman, Sarabia said.
The physical fight began in the back of the limo while the vehicle was driving about 45 mph southbound on Highway 17. The altercation somehow led to a door opening and the pair falling onto the roadway, Sarabia said.
The 25-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene after the limo ran over her, while the other woman was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose with no broken bones but cuts and bruises covering her body, Sarabia said. She is expected to survive her injuries.
Sarabia said all the passengers were under the influence of alcohol and uncooperative with authorities investigating the accident, which closed Highway 17 between Lark Avenue and state Highway 9 at 2 a.m. until about 3:30 a.m. this morning.
The CHP is investigating how the door opened, which Sarabia said is difficult to open from inside the vehicle unless an emergency lever is pulled.
No other vehicles were involved in the accident and the driver is not being charged in case. She was not intoxicated when she was questioned at the scene, Sarabia said.
Sarabia said the driver did not notice the backseat commotion right away because she said there was loud music playing.
The other passengers, who were not wearing seatbelts, Sarabia
said, were not injured in the accident.
The accident remains under investigation.
—Bay City News Service and additional reporting from Jennifer Squires.
