Man plows car into tree

A man is in a local hospital with life-threatening injuries after he crashed his car into a tree in the 400 block of Bernardo Avenue on Monday morning.

Investigators believe that the man, who crashed his blue Mini Cooper into a tree in front of a technology company located at 440 Bernardo Ave. on Dec. 10 at about 9 a.m., likely suffered from a seizure behind the wheel that caused him to lose control of his vehicle and smash into a tree at a speed that one witness estimated to be about 50 mph.

The witness, a Mountain View resident, said the motorist’s vehicle began to list slightly in one direction and slow down. “I thought the guy might be slowing down to look at addresses on buildings,” the witness said.

As the witness made a move to drive around the Mini Cooper, he looked in the driver’s side window and saw that the man’s “eyes were rolled back into his head,” and he was twitching. “Then his arms went straight out,” the witness said, speculating that the man’s legs did the same.

Mountain View Police Department traffic investigators have a similar theory, according to Sgt. Sean Thompson, the department’s public information officer. He said a full report on the accident has not been written, but noted that officials suspect a seizure was the cause of the crash.

“Those Mini Coopers go!” the witness said — meaning that they accelerate quickly. He said the car gathered speed for about 500 feet before hitting the tree.