A car accident outside of the upper school campus resulted in heavy traffic yesterday afternoon, as police and medical personnel blocked off a section of Saratoga Avenue to provide assistance to the victims and prevent additional accidents from occurring. 

When a dark green Prius was turning onto the Interstate 280-North onramp from North Saratoga Avenue at around 3 p.m., a white BMW traveling south on Saratoga ran a red light and rammed into the front of the Prius. Despite the cars suffering a popped tire and various dents, no passengers were injured in the incident. 

Harker security guard Roberto Pena witnessed the crash while directing traffic out of the school. He stopped oncoming cars and called emergency services, waiting with the passengers until the police and fire department arrived.

“[Emergency services] arrived about six to seven minutes later—maybe even a little sooner than that, it just felt like a lot longer when you’re in [the moment],” he said. “It’s a lot smoother once [they got] here. [I was] just making sure not another accident happens when they get here, or before they can get there.”

Since this is the third car accident Pena has witnessed outside of Harker since he began working at the school last year, he knew what to do as a first responder. After ensuring the safety of all the passengers involved, he began funneling out traffic as quickly as possible and held back students who came to the intersection to cross the street, both for their own safety and for traffic to flow smoothly.

“It’s been a hectic Friday,” he said afterwards.