Kathy Threlfall clasps her hands while sitting beneath photographs taken by her husband, David, as she remembers his fatal crash at the intersection of Azevedo Road and Highway 12. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

A highway of pain

66 have died on Highway 12 since 2000; families' still struggling with loss

Photographs of David Threlfall, a fun-loving father with gentle eyes and a big bushy beard, fill his family's Rio Vista home, just a short drive off Highway 12.

Whether in costume or camping gear, he's shown smiling, mouth agape, often flanked by his son and daughter. He's animated in nearly every one.

"He was more fun to be with than anyone," said Kathy Threlfall, David's wife and companion of more than 25 years, and now his widow. "He was always willing to do anything to have fun."

David Threlfall was killed March 6 on Highway 12, about a half mile from his home. He was 58. His minvan was struck from behind by a tanker truck near Azevedo Road, and forced into the path of an oncoming big rig.

Kathy was outside preparing to feed the family's cows around 10 a.m. that Tuesday when she heard the jarring impacts. She remembers thinking the sounds were explosions, and being confused about what had happened. Moments later, when David had still not returned from his morning errands, fear swept through her.

"I just went into a full-blown panic," Kathy said, seated in her living room, where several of David's framed Delta landscape photos hang on the wall.

David had dropped off a story that morning at the local paper, describing the Rio Vista High School baseball team's no-hitter the night before. He had also met with city leaders about the Rio Baseball Association, of which he was president. Becoming more agitated every moment, Kathy walked quickly up the gravel road to the highway.

Prayer flags placed near a telephone pole in remembrance of David Threlfall blow in the wind as large trucks pass by. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Her husband would never return home. Of course, David — named the city's volunteer of the year by a Rio Vista community group — is hardly the only one to have died on Highway 12. Sixty-six people have lost their lives on the two-lane roadway, between Lodi and Fairfield, since 2000.

So far this year, 10 people have been killed on that stretch. Five people were killed in March, including Threlfall, in four separate wrecks.

The family rule

The Threlfall family is under strict instruction not to make the unprotected left turn off Highway 12 when entering Azevedo Road. They don't take chances anymore with the trucks that barrel down from ahead, and behind. Instead they turn right onto Azevedo, make a U-Turn and then cross the highway.

Kathy Threlfall does not understand why her husband broke that rule in March, one that had been in place for years. The Rio Vista woman's fear of trucks and Highway 12 dates back a dozen years.

Driving on the highway about a mile from her home in 1995, her minivan was hit from behind by a large truck and rocketed into the car in front of her. Rescuers used the Jaws of Life to extricate Threlfall's young daughter, Rosa, from the minivan. Rosa, Threlfall and her son, Willie, were all raced to area hospitals. All recovered.

Since her husband's death in March, Threlfall has campaigned against the big rigs that use Highway 12 as a shortcut. Thousands of trucks each day make the three-county journey from Interstate 5 to Interstate 80, saving gas and nearly an hour of driving time. This allows them to bypass Sacramento's freeways, and instead cross directly through the Delta.

Trucks comprise up to 15 percent of Highway 12's traffic, from Lodi to Rio Vista, according to a 2006 study completed for Caltrans.

"(Closing Highway 12 to through trucks) wouldn't solve all the problems, but it would make it safer," Threlfall said. "It's the elephant in the room. They talk about the rumble strips and the barriers, but they don't say they want to shut it down to trucks. I think long-term solutions are hard to come by, but that's what we need."

Closing the highway to big rigs is both wrong and short-sighted, said Frank Alegre, founder of Lodi's Alegre Trucking, Inc.

"Nothing moves in this country if it doesn't move by truck," said Alegre, who's son now runs the company, and manages it's fleet of 175 trucks.

He noted that big rigs may be involved in highway crashes, but they're rarely the cause of them. In fact, none of the past 24 fatal accidents on San Joaquin County's stretch of Highway 12 were caused by big rigs, according to the CHP.

Prayers for a deadly highway

Kathy Threlfall's son Willie turned 16 this year, and just got his driver's license. She said she's worried about his safety, but adds he's pretty good about taking the back roads instead of the highway.

Of course, there's a lot of other drivers to be worried about. That's why Threlfall tied prayer flags along the highway, near her husband's crash site. She was told the flags were blessed by the Dalai Llama. She doesn't know for sure. That doesn't seem to matter, though. Making some effort to protect the roadway is what counts, she said.

On a recent afternoon, the red, white, green, gold and blue flags flapped in the warm wind. Trucks carrying gasoline, tomatoes, cement mix and other products zoomed past. Caravans of cars and pickups followed, leaving rare moments of quiet along the Delta corridor.

"What happens is, when the wind blows, prayers are dispersed," Threlfall said, explaining how the flags work, seated in her living room, surrounded by photographs of David and her children. "It's good for the local area. It's perfect for Rio Vista."

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chrisn@lodinews.com.

First published Oct. 27, 2007