Passenger killed, driver critically injured in solo crash Sunday morning in Hayward

A 37-year-old female passenger from Richmond was pronounced dead at the scene.

HAYWARD — One person is dead and another critically injured after a vehicle struck a tree in Hayward early Sunday morning, authorities said.

Hayward police responded to a single-vehicle collision near the intersection of Winton Avenue and Magna Avenue around 2:15 a.m. Sunday — the city’s 10th fatal crash in 2023.

Officers said the driver of a 2005 Honda Accord failed to turn from southbound D Street to westbound Winton Avenue before colliding with a tree, according to a news release.

The 37-year-old female passenger from Richmond was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, a 46-year-old man from Oakland, was transported to a hospital, where he was in critical, but stable, condition.

Police are withholding the victims’ identities while the Alameda County Coroner’s Office notifies next of kin.

The solo crash occurred at a busy s-curve intersection, where D Street and Winton Avenue converge at a traffic light. The city recently set aside $200,000 for a traffic calming project along the D Street corridor, responding to community concerns about excessive vehicle speeds.

Hayward Police Officer Cassondra Fovel, department spokesperson, said she is surprised that more collisions don’t regularly occur at that intersection.

As of Sunday evening, authorities had not yet ruled out whether drugs and alcohol were involved, or if rainy weather contributed to the collision.

Anyone with information about the crash can contact Hayward Police Department’s traffic bureau at 510-293-7066.