Woman ID’d in fatal collision in Palo Alto

A woman who was struck by a car and died after jumping from an overpass in Palo Alto on Monday has been identified by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The deceased person was Alison Chang, 50, of Palo Alto, the coroner’s office said.

The collision blocked westbound Oregon Expressway in Palo Alto on Monday morning, resulting in clogged up traffic for hours, police said.

At about 6:40 a.m., Chang jumped from the Park Boulevard overpass onto westbound lanes into the path of an oncoming car, which struck her, Palo Alto police spokesman Lt. James Reifschneider said. She suffered major injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital, where she died. The incident appeared to be a suicide.

Police said prior to her identification that she was not a member of the Palo Alto school community.

A woman driving the sedan stopped and cooperated with police, he said. She will not face charges for the collision and didn’t appear to be injured.

If the driver was injured, it didn’t appear significant enough to require medics to take her to a hospital, Reifschneider said.

The collision blocked access to westbound Oregon Expressway between Bryant Street and Alma Street overpass. Police closed both westbound lanes and an eastbound lane of Oregon Expressway, police said.

The closed eastbound lane was reopened about 45 minutes later and traffic was allowed back on westbound at about 9:30 a.m., he said.

Any person who is feeling depressed, troubled or suicidal can call 1-800-784-2433 to speak with a crisis counselor. People in Santa Clara County can call 1-855-278-4204. Spanish speakers can call 1-888-628-9454.

People can reach trained counselors at Crisis Text Line by texting 741741.

Additional resources can be found here.