Mom dies, sons injured in San Mateo crash

Driver in San Mateo crash that killed woman and injured sons says brakes failed

The 75-year-old driver of an SUV says his brakes failed, leading him to crash into car. Woman, 30, died and her two sons were hurt.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - A woman died, and her two young children were wounded in a crash Thursday evening in San Mateo, police said Friday.

Victim's vehicle was T-boned

The 30-year-old woman was driving a Toyota Prius with her sons, ages 5 and 7, on Alameda de las Pulgas when a man driving a Ford SUV allegedly ran a red light as he was exiting Highway 92, according to San Mateo police.

The Ford broadsided the Prius, which was headed north on Alameda de las Pulgas.

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The collision killed the woman, whom the coroner identified as Yina Marcela Ramos Bello, of South San Francisco.

The boys were taken to a hospital with serious injuries, while the man, 75, in the Ford was taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries. 

A relative of Bello said the 7-year-old boy remains in critical condition. 

Police said the driver of the Ford was not driving while impaired.

Driver says his brakes failed

What they're saying:

The man, whose name is being withheld because he has not been arrested, told KTVU on Friday that that his brakes failed.

"Coming down that hill, I stepped on the brakes and nothing happened," he said, adding that before that they were working fine. 

"When I got down to the off-ramp, I could tell I was not going to be able to stop. It wasn't slowing down, so I went over to the far-right emergency lane," he said. "I swerved to miss a car, and I saw this car ahead of me, and I thought it was moving, but it stopped right in front of me. That's when I hit it,"

He said he's deeply saddened by what happened. 

"I'm completely upset. And I'm beating myself up hourly about that. It's something that shouldn't have happened. I have to live with this for the rest of my life." he said.