Six months after a crash killed four teens and injured two others in Woodacre, the county has made some efforts to improve safety on the road, and it plans others. But thus far it has not changed the speed limit.
Ten legal claims have been filed against the county related to the crash, many in the past week. The claims, potential precursors to lawsuits, blame the county for the teens’ injuries because of alleged negligence in the road design and maintenance, among other factors.
Some were filed by individual claimants, others by estates, said Marin County Counsel Brian Washington.
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CHP recommends manslaughter charges in Marin County crash that killed four teen girls
“The County is evaluating the claims and will respond through the Government Code claims procedure,” Washington said in an email Friday.
The California Highway Patrol, in an investigative report recently released to the victims’ families, attributed the crash to excessive speed by an unseasoned driver. The CHP estimated the speed at 60 to 65 mph when the vehicle crashed into a large tree along San Geronimo Valley Drive.
The speed limit at the curve is 40 mph. The driver made an unsafe turn before the crash, according to the CHP report obtained by the Independent Journal.
The 16-year-old driver was using a provisional license, which prohibited her from transporting passengers under age 20, Officer Darrel Horner wrote in the report. The ages of the other girls in the vehicle ranged from 14 to 16. All six teens were students at Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo.
The driver “only had her license for five months and likely lacked the experience to safely handle these conditions at a high speed,” Horner wrote. The CHP does not suspect intoxication.
The CHP recommended that prosecutors charge the driver with gross vehicular manslaughter and violating the terms of her driver’s license.
Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli declined to comment on the case because the driver is under 18 years old.
“The District Attorney’s Office has not and will not release any confidential information to any unauthorized entities, absent a court order,” she said Wednesday.
A roadside memorial lines San Geronimo Valley Drive in Woodacre on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 — six months after a crash killed four teens and critically injured two others. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
The crash happened on April 18, and since then the Marin County Department of Public Works has undertaken “a suite of roadway enhancements” to improve safety along San Geronimo Valley Drive, said Christopher Blunk, the director of the department.
The department consulted with the CHP, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, the Marin County Fire Department, the Safe Routes to School Program and the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, Blunk said. It also presented potential improvements at two community meetings in the San Geronimo Valley.
Some changes were made after the crash. The county installed advisory signs that warn drivers of an approaching curve in the road. Crews also trimmed vegetation and modified road shoulders to have more backing, Blunk said.
Public works staff also placed cones in front of the roadside memorial and temporary signs that alert drivers to parked vehicles at the site.
Modifications are proposed for three intersections along San Geronimo Valley Drive away from the crash site. The ideas include adding a stop bar at the Redwood Drive intersection and changes to improve traffic flow at the Park Street and Meadow Way intersections.
Blunk anticipates that the county staff will present recommendations on road changes to county supervisors in the “near future.”
“Our hearts go out to the families, friends and loved ones of those who lost their lives in this devastating incident,” Blunk said.
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition advised the county staff to consider closing the section of San Geronimo Valley Drive between Park Street and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to motor vehicle traffic.
Warren Wells, the coalition’s policy and planning director, said that the road has bicycle and equestrian use by people avoiding Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, despite the lack of a bicycle lane.
“Driving out to SFD would add only a half-mile to anyone traveling between Woodacre and Ross Valley, or just over 30 seconds at the 55 MPH speed limit,” he said in an email. “At the very least, a speed survey should be conducted in an attempt to lower the speed limit from its current 40 MPH.”
The county is evaluating whether to propose a reduction in the speed limit, said spokesperson Laine Hendricks. The change would require approval by the Board of Supervisors.
The CHP report provides details about the events before the crash. The driver and her five passengers planned to have a sleepover at a friend’s home that Friday night. They were heading west San Geronimo Valley Drive in a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan when they hit the tree.
The vehicle caught fire. Three girls were pronounced dead at the crash site; one died at a hospital; and the driver and another passenger were hospitalized with critical injuries.
The surviving passenger told investigators that she recalled seeing the driver making a “sharp turn” and vehicle partially crossing into their lane before the crash, according to the CHP. Investigators found no evidence of a second vehicle involved.
A large memorial for the victims still stands at the crash site. Several photographs of the girls are displayed on the damaged tree and among large pots of brightly colored fabric flowers. A white bench was placed at the memorial along with signs that wished happy birthdays to the victims.
On Wednesday, several drivers slowed down to view the memorial. A few took pictures.
Bill Bowles, a Woodacre resident, said he did not have an opinion on the county’s road improvements, but he believes that San Geronimo Valley Drive is safer than nearby major roads.
Jamie Treffert of Novato stops by the roadside memorial on Monday, April 21, 2025, for the teens involved in a fatal crash in Woodacre. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
“It doesn’t seem like the most dangerous road, it’s certainly not more dangerous than Sir Francis Drake going through Samuel Taylor Park or other roads out here,” he said.
Bowles mentioned an incident in which a driver went joyriding and crashed into trees at his former home on Lucas Valley Road.
“The car problem is more on Lucas Valley Road than here,” he said.
Fairfax resident David Janeczko recalled his travels near the victims’ memorial.
“Every time I go by there, I put my hand out and say hi to them,” he said. “It’s a sacred little place.”
He does not think the posted speed limit is excessive.
“This one has a curve, but at the end of the curve it opens right up,” Janeczko said of the road. “In that sense, people who live around here would drive to their comfort level. Now, for people who are driving in here and don’t know, you’ll see them bang on the brakes. That’s a good thing.”
Janeczko said that he doesn’t think new road signage near the crash site would hurt.
“Every action needs another action,” he said.