Driver in Serious Condition After Crashing Into Tree

A driver who swerved off a road near downtown Palo Alto and crashed into a tree Thursday night is in serious but stable condition, police said.

The man behind the wheel, an Atherton resident in his 60s’, sustained moderate injuries.

Palo Alto Police responded to a report of the crash around 8:10 p.m. at the intersection of Middlefield Road and Hamilton Avenue. They arrived to find an SUV crashed into a tree with a man inside.

Palo Alto Fire paramedics took him to a local hospital, police said. An initial investigation suggests that the man was driving northbound on Middlefield toward Hamilton Avenue when he drifted into the southbound lanes and onto a sidewalk, then crashed into a planter before vaulting into the air and smashing into a tree, police said.

No other vehicles or people were involved in the accident, and police think the driver may have been experiencing a medical emergency of some kind at the time of the crash. Police do not suspect drugs or alcohol as being a factor in the incident.

Palo Alto’s Specialized Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) team is investigating the crash.

Anyone who witnessed the accident is encouraged to call police at 650-329-2413.