Flipped Car on El Camino Real Calls Student Safety into Question Again

Both cars involved were removed from the scene via tow truck. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)

A car crash shut down southbound lanes where The Alameda meets El Camino Real at the southern tip of Santa Clara University's campus, as Bronco Alert notified students at 2:36 p.m. this afternoon.

Following a loud crash, Santa Clara students sitting at Voyager Craft Coffee witnessed a gray pickup truck flipping over and a white car’s bumper entirely crushed.

The driver of the truck, a Santa Clara University student, was shaken but unharmed. The second driver was also uninjured, according to Santa Clara police on site.

The crash took under 30 minutes to clear, with students getting the all-clear from the Bronco Alert system at 3:02 p.m.

“Around here, I see California drivers going way too fast. Way too fast, especially in a school zone,” said Hope Saena ’27, one of the students who saw the crash. 

Every time she crosses the 6-lane road separating her apartment complex—Dominilio—from the main campus, Saena thinks of Kephas Pope: a Santa Clara student who was killed in a car crash last year while crossing El Camino Real.

Upperclassmen on-campus housing for Santa Clara University, called the University Villas, requires students to cross El Camino Real to access the dining hall, gym, volleyball courts, classrooms and majority of student-life activities.