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After a Horrible Accident: Was Justice Served?

February 6, 2020 By Steve Ringhoff 13 Comments

Always combining his experience as an attorney and journalist, Steve Ringhoff has an ongoing interest in law and justice. Below, while investigating a horrible accident, he looks closely at LaGrange Road, transecting parts of western Tuolumne County and eastern Stanislaus County, the primary feeder route for drivers between foothill communities and Southern California.

Steve Ringhoff
Steve Ringhoff

It was Trista’s turn to drive. It was a school day—a Friday, October 21, 2016—so, when Trista Hoffman, 16, her brother, Dillon, a year older, and a classmate, Annie Johnson, poured out of the Sonora High School bus, Trista headed for the driver’s seat of the family’s Lexus SUV. She had a learner’s permit, as did her brother. Their mother, Tina, let them take turns driving. It was Trista’s turn to drive home.

Trista got behind the wheel at the junction of Highway 108 and the north end of LaGrange Road. The route took them about 13 miles through Tuolumne County and 3 miles into Stanislaus County before intersecting with Highway 132, just west of LaGrange.

But they would make it only about 11 miles.

Coming north after a visit with family in Southern California, was Dr. Danny Anderson, a Sonora physician. His wife, Diane, was the only passenger. Dr. Anderson was very familiar with this road, having driven it often to visit relatives in Los Angeles.

Near Bonds Flat Road, Dr. Anderson pulled out and passed. The two vehicles ahead of him were moving substantially slower than the posted speed limit of 55. This pass was clearly illegal because of the double yellow center striping on the road.

At the criminal trial that followed, a Sonora jury found Dr. Anderson responsible for causing Trista to swerve to her right, then back to her left, ultimately colliding with a northbound vehicle. Trista and her mother were killed, as was a passenger in that oncoming car, John Reinholdt Eisemann, driven by his wife, Dorothy. Dillon, Annie and Mrs. Eisemann were seriously injured.

The scene of the accident Anderson
Scene of the accident

Questioned later by investigators Dr. Anderson admitted making the pass but maintained the pass did not cause the crash. Dr. Anderson is serving a 5-year prison term.

It was a comment Dr. Anderson made to investigators which piqued interest in the roadway markings. He said the section of road, where he attempted to make his pass, “used to be,” marked for passing.

Dr. Anderson was right. Google Earth aerial photos from before a repaving and restriping project in 2010-2011 showed broken yellow lines allowing passing there and at other sections of the 13 miles of LaGrange Road in Tuolumne County.

Repaved and restriped, there are now double yellow lines with a rumble strip between them, meant to prohibit passing for the entire 13 mile stretch in Tuolumne County. There are also no sections of “passing lanes,” where there are three lanes to allow passing. In contrast, there are broken yellow center line sections and one “passing lane” in the three miles of LaGrange Road from Highway 132 north to the Tuolumne County line.

At the Tuolumne/Stanislaus County line someone has spray painted the word SAFE in white, with an arrow pointing north into the Tuolumne County section. But it may not be.

The "safe" marker
“Safe”

(To put this into a more local perspective, this stretch of road is equivalent in length to Highway 132 (Maze Boulevard) from downtown Modesto out west all the way to Kasson/River Road, that newly signalized intersection west of the San Joaquin River bridge.)

What the motoring public will do. Traffic engineers understand that controls perceived by the motoring public as unreasonable will be ignored. If you set the speed limit too low, you will not get compliance. And if, especially on roadway with a mix of traffic (truck, recreational vehicles etc.), people will pass over double yellow lines where they see what they think is enough distance to do it safely.

This engineering understanding is reflected in a “presumption” in manuals which dictate striping on roadways.  After LaGrange Road was repaved and re-striped, there were questions about the center line markings. County public works department employees were quoted in the Sonora paper as saying that the “state manual” required it.

There are two manuals used by the state. One is called the “Highway Design Manual” and the other the “California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).” The design manual is basically for new construction. The MUTCD controls markings on existing roadways. Both favor liberal passing zones, “especially those routes with high volumes of truck or recreational vehicles” (Design Manual Section 2.01.2).

The MUTCD says it forcefully:

“On two-way, two-or three lane roadways where center line markings are installed, no-passing zones shall be established at vertical and horizontal curves where an engineering study indicates that passing must be prohibited because of inadequate sight distances or other special conditions.” (MUTCD Section 3B.02(03) (emphasis added)). 

The presumption in favor of allowing passing is clearly reflected in that passage. And, that presumption is reflected in the language of documents provided by Tuolumne County officials in response to a Public Records Request.

They referred to the center striping for the entire 13 miles as a, “no passing zone.”

What the county did not provide was any engineering study to justify creating that “no passing zone.” In correspondence in 2010 with Tiechert Engineering, the project contractor, Tuolumne County officials cited only, “internal discussions,” as the basis for the striping. We made a Public Records Request for any engineering studies upon which the no passing striping was based. None were provided in its response.

Although fading in sections, that same “no passing zone” remains on the Tuolumne County section of LaGrange Road.  If there is a problem…a danger… represented by the striping, it must be viewed from the perspective of the innocent driver, not the person making the pass.

Just “eyeballing” the Tuolumne County stretch of LaGrange Road, it appears there are several sections which would meet the minimum sight distance recommendations for center line markings for passing in both state manuals. There are also sections where pastureland beside the roadway is at roadway level and could accommodate another passing lane. 

The pressure can build. Dr. Anderson may have become frustrated when he came upon the two cars ahead of him, which he may have caught up to after crossing into the Tuolumne County section.  They were going substantially slower than the posted speed limit and, familiar with the roadway and its previous markings, he decided to pass where it was once considered safe to do so. He would have known there was nowhere on LaGrange Road, once into Tuolumne County, that passing would be legal.

This does not excuse what he did. It may, however, explain why he did it, and where he did it.

We have not focused on the collision itself.  The facts of the crash were highly disputed at Dr. Anderson’s trial and that of his wife, who was accused of accessory crimes. There was even an eyewitness who said a vehicle other than Dr. Anderson’s caused the crash. Both were found guilty and their cases are on appeal.

The case was notorious in Tuolumne County. The investigating CHP officer first on the scene found Dr. Anderson at the scene tending to the injured, after he determined Trisha was deceased. The officer says she asked Dr. Anderson if he was involved or was just a witness. She says Dr. Anderson said he was there simply to help the injured. His wife talked to other CHP officers but did not say anything about any involvement in the collision. Both fully identified themselves to the officers.

Memorial cross Anderson accident
Memorial

So, it was originally thought to be a hit-run situation and was played as such in the Sonora newspaper, and on social media, with attendant and fully understandable sympathy for the families of those killed and injured and anger directed to the person responsible.

After viewing video from a fixed camera at a convenience store south of the crash scene, investigators figured out that the car which made the pass was a white Acura. The officers obtained DMV records of the make and model, and on the printout of ownership records spotted Dr. Anderson’s name.

Investigators interviewed him and he said he had passed at that location, at that time, but that his pass was completed without causing problems for oncoming traffic. After further investigation, Dr. Anderson and his wife were arrested. Dr. Anderson was charged with vehicular manslaughter and hit and run driving. Diane was charged with being an accessory to her husband’s crimes.

Their arrests prompted very negative social media posts, only made worse when Diane Anderson was quoted in the paper as describing some Sonora residents as “rednecks.” Social media exploded after this remark.

Conclusion: Diane Anderson just finished the in-custody portion of her 10-month jail sentence; Dr. Anderson is about halfway through his 5-year prison term and should be eligible for parole this summer; unofficial but well maintained memorials for Mr. Reinhardt, Trista and Tina still mark the site of the collision and the double yellow center line remains along the entire Tuolumne County stretch of LaGrange Road, as does the word “SAFE” spray painted on the roadway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: History

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary says

    February 7, 2020 at 8:12 am

    I have been on many of these roads in this area, including La Grange Rd. I NEVER pass…NEVER, even if the lane markings or signs indicate it is safe to do so. I used to drive this area a lot, but rarely do so anymore, in part due to impatient drivers passing from the oncoming lane and nearly colliding with me, No passing signs and double yellow lines don’t deter these people at all.

    Reply
  2. Nicholas Crockett says

    February 7, 2020 at 3:30 pm

    Her name was Trista . Thanks for highlighting this story. The doctors wife is already out and hes not far away. No Justice at all!

    Reply
  3. S.C. says

    February 7, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    This was a terrible tragedy for our family members.. Dr. and Mrs. Anderson lied throughout this whole. Both are the most disgusting people I’ve ever encountered. They deserve what they got , but deserve to rot in jail. They killed 3 innocent people and destroyed many lives . I sat through this trial for 3 years., the disrespect to the victims was unbelievable..I have no sympathy for them what so ever.

    Reply
    • Lynn says

      June 16, 2022 at 8:38 am

      They did not kill anyone, the person in the white pickup truck who overtook on the left did as per missing evidence from a highway patrol who was removed from another county for tampering with video.

      Reply
  4. Vivian says

    February 8, 2020 at 9:17 pm

    Her name is Trista. Justice was not served………the lives of 3 innocent people were taken due to the inpatience of an individual………bad decision Anderson.

    Reply
  5. Bob says

    February 11, 2020 at 7:26 am

    The doctor and his wife never lied, never deceived, never hit a car, and never left the scene of the accident. Under the 5th Amendment they had no obligation to admit anything or to tell the police what they may have known about the accident. Not only were they not criminally liable, they were not even civilly liable as there was absolutely no negligence. The County clearly did not have the authority to put in no passing double lines, and did not properly maintain the road by removing the “Safe” symbol. If anyone belongs in jail, it is the engineers and road workers who maintained and painted the road. Furthermore the police and prosecutor who caused this arrest and prosecution belong in prison for violating the doctor’s civil rights. This is an egregious miscarriage of justice and despotic government abuse. The government is out of control. Those people who sided with the government are thinly veiled socialists. I would bet they are employed by law enforcement or an administrative agency. A terrible, horrible, awful miscarriage of justice. A case like this should never happen in America. Never! Lesson of the day: when police question you, use the magic words: “With all due respect officer, I am exercising my right to not say anything under the 5th amendment of the US constitution.” Had the doctor and wife used these magic words their silence would not have been admissible in evidence. What happened to the doctor and his wife could happen to any one of us. The people in prison are not the “other” guys. They are people just like us.

    Reply
    • Cheyenne Brown says

      April 4, 2020 at 9:17 am

      You dont think they lied read every statement from them it’s different every time you would feel different if your family he killed

      Reply
    • JJMD says

      May 15, 2020 at 11:17 am

      It obviously wasn’t a safe time to pass no matter what the road markers say. He was behind the wheel and he made the bad decision to pass, You don’t need to actually strike another car to cause an accident.

      Reply
    • Louise says

      July 22, 2020 at 5:53 pm

      The article and you fail to discuss the fact that after the description of the car came out, Mr and Mrs Anderson took the car to Southern California and sold it. Hence the destroying of evidence. That was clearly an indication of their guilt!

      Reply
    • Lynn says

      June 16, 2022 at 8:35 am

      Dr. and Mrs. Anderson are innocent and as a result, I will never stop to assist at an accident. The district DA had it out for Dr. Anderson because he took care of her grandmother and didn’t allow family to throw her into a cheap care home. The forensic presentation of the experts were not allowed in court because the judge had already found them guilty. As the DA started on record, I have my doctor let’s get this over. Nothing fair nor was justice served, lives were destroyed in a very small hateful community. Mrs. Anderson was sentenced and convicted following an ugly show of mishandled justice. Shame on this community for their Christian hate and judgment. The death sentence and miscarriage of justice only shows that in a America their is no space for truth. And now this deranged DA is a Judge, she needed thus guilty to sit on the bench.

      Reply
    • Lynn says

      June 16, 2022 at 8:39 am

      Truer words were never spoken. Thank you, Bob.

      Reply
  6. Lynn says

    June 16, 2022 at 8:40 am

    No. The DA is now the judge and that was the base of this case.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Judi togel says:
    September 1, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    Judi togel

    After a Horrible Accident: Was Justice Served?

    Reply

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