Families request road barrier at Satan s Slide to prevent cars from driving off cliffs along Hwy one – Story, KTVU
Families request road barrier at Satan’s Slide to prevent cars from driving off cliffs along Hwy 1
Posted: Jul twenty two 2017 07:12PM PDT
Updated: Jul twenty two 2017 07:12PM PDT
PACIFICA, Calif (KTVU) – A beautiful spread of Highway one from Pacifica to Montara goes after the forms of the cliffs leading down to the Pacific Ocean. It`s known as «Satan`s Slide.» Beautiful, but deadly, it`s claimed the lives of three youthfull people in the past thirteen years. Their families said they believe the deadly accidents could possibly have been prevented if there was something inbetween the road and the cliff`s edge.
“Near here where we’re talking, there’s a ramp here that Evel Knievel could use. These need a barrier,» said Dan Moss of a soft filth mound before the cliff edge.
Moss is still searching for his son, twenty two year-old Richard Moss, who disappeared on May 25.
Richard Moss drove to the McDonald`s in Pacifica for breakfast and was seen on surveillance cameras leaving the Tom Lantos Tunnel at 7:12 AM. He was heading to his job at Moss Beach. Two cars ahead of Richard`s were seen passing the Chevron station surveillance cameras a mile and a half up the road, but Richard`s was not seen.
“After fifty days of searching, we found his wheel at the bottom of the cliff over here,» said Dan Moss.
Richard`s family believes he died accidentally driving off the cliff and they`re still searching for him and his car.
Richard`s story is similar to Jason Affolder`s. Affolder`s fiancé, Glenda Cota, was 8-months pregnant when he disappeared in 2004.
“He was on his way to work. It was about seven in the morning when he lost control of his car and went over,» said Cota.
«We were fortunate that there were drivers behind him so that we knew what happened.”
Affolder`s car was never recovered, but Affolder`s bod washed to shore a few days after the accident.
Joining the Moss and Affolder families on Highway one Saturday morning holding signs requesting CalTrans install concrete barriers to the cliffs, were the sister and brother-in-law of Rose De Alba.
On September 24, 2016, De Alba was driving home at night after watching a rodeo in Half Moon Bay. She pulled over and recorded a SnapChat movie telling she was lost.
“She was describing how she was lost and how she wasn’t familiar with the area, how she didn’t know where she was going and that it was truly, indeed foggy,» said her brother-in-law Darius Hanneman.
He said CHP officers voluntarily rappelled down the cliff and found De Alba`s purse dangling on a rock. Her assets was discovered the next day.
“We always go to the cemetary and we always wonder ‘what if.` What if there was a barrier?” said Hanneman.
Locals question why barriers were never installed along the dangerous spread after years of deaths and near-death accidents. Dan Moss said the scar on his forehead was from an accident years ago on the north end of the tunnel and his car fell down fifty feet.
“I’m a local resident and I drive this open up south of Tom Lantos daily,» said Montara resident Alysa Sutter.
«There are several places on this disrobe that are unsafe or the barriers are outdated.”
They argue Caltrans need to install concrete barriers, especially, since it`s telling that many of the accidents happen to locals familiar with the drive.
“It could be anything. The result is death. Instead of a crashed car. It should be a crashed car. They need to put barriers out here now, not a week or a month from now,» said Moss.
Cota and Affolder`s son is now thirteen years-old. Cota said she worries that her son will soon be driving and will have to one day drive Satan`s Slide.
“Already [I`m] experiencing extreme difficulty accepting that he will be driving the same spreads of road. We`re local born and raised,» said Cota.
Caltrans spokesman said an engineering team came out to the area on Wednesday to survey the land. He said the engineering team will finish a report and recommendation for what can be done to the area.
In the meantime, the families of Moss, Affolder, and De Alba said they will be holding signs and demonstrating every Saturday until barriers are put in place.
Moss said divers will resume the search for his son Richard on Sunday.