San Jose Mercury News: September 7, 2006, page B16

Mountain View man in critical condition after solo crash

By KAYCEE O'FARRELL
Staff Writer

A Mountain View man is on life support after a solo crash Wednesday night that may have been a botched suicide attempt.

Joshua David Boyd, 26, has remained unconscious since being admitted to Stanford University Hospital at 10:15 p.m. Wednesday evening, doctors say. He is listed as being in critical condition.

Boyd was allegedly driving while intoxicated when the accident occurred at about 9:30 p.m. on a narrow stretch of Highway 1 six miles north of the Highway 84 intersection. California Highway Patrol Information Officer Dwayne Thoroughby said Boyd was southbound on a straightaway near Tunitas Creek when his 1994 Alfa Romeo veered left suddenly, crossing the double yellow line and smashing into a large oak tree on the far side of the roadway.

Thoroughby estimated that Boyd's car was traveling at about 40 miles per hour when it slammed into the tree on the passenger side and crumpled. A last-minute maneuver may have prevented the car from a head-on collision, which would have been fatal, Thoroughby added. The car was not equipped with air bags.

A motorist traveling northbound on Highway 1 who witnessed the collision from a distance said Boyd's car did not appear to swerve or brake when it careened off the road.

"I'd guess it was deliberate," said Margaret Potts of Santa Barbara, who was traveling to Half Moon Bay for the weekend with friend Marla Simons. Potts said she pulled over and used her cell phone to dial 911 after witnessing the crash.

Thoroughby refused to speculate on the cause of the accident, saying further investigation was needed before an official report would be issued. Mountain View Police Officer Michael Vode said the department will investigate the incident, but declined to comment further.

Bob Skeffington, Boyd's neighbor at the Palo Alto Plaza apartment complex in Mountain View, said Boyd had been laid off from an Internet technology firm when it went out of business in late 2005 and owed two months' rent.

"He was definitely having a rough time," Skeffington said. "He was always worrying about running out of money. Maybe that's what happened."