Three Students Killed in Car Crash

UNION CITY: Perhaps no one will ever know why 19-year-old Amanjot Thiara drove her Toyota Camry at speeds nearing 70 mph on a city street slick from a recent rain on the night of Sept. 20, in a 35 mph zone with three of her friends in the car.
Neither alcohol nor drugs figured in that high-speed drive, which ended with the car wrapping itself onto a tree in the center divider, almost split in half, Union City police department's Lt.Jim Bizieff said.
The crash claimed the lives of Thiara, Saprina Sidhu and Vibha Sharma.
At press time, Dhanwant Madar, 19 like the others, and known as "Niki" to her friends and family, was listed in serious condition at Eden Hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Marlo Rodman. Her condition had been upgraded from critical three days earlier.
According to Balbir Singh M.A., editor of the California-based publication, Pardes News, Madar, youngest of three sisters and the daughter of Amrik Singh and Charanjit Kaur, suffered broken legs and head injuries. One leg has been operated upon. At press time, she was responding to her name. She reportedly asked one of her sisters if her legs were going to be all right.
When police arrived at the scene of the crash, on Union City Boulevard near Kohoutek Way, Sharma, who had occupied the front passenger seat, had been ejected from the car. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She would have turned 19 on Sept. 22...
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Police had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate Madar and Sidhu, who was already dead in the back seat, according to Bizieff.
"It was a sheer tragedy that the girl lost control of her car," Bizieff told India-West. "Going from 60 or 70 mph to zero, there's no doubt that the impact must have been severe."
Thiara, the only daughter of Sukhwinder Singh Thiara and Surinder Kaur, died about six hours after being admitted to the hospital.
Bizieff said police are still investigating the cause of the accident, but preliminary investigations seemed to indicate that none of the passengers was wearing seat belts. "That could have perhaps saved their lives," he said.
The young women were returning from an evening biology class at Chabot College in nearby Hayward when the accident occurred. All of them were full-time students at other area colleges - Sidhu, a Union City resident and Madar, a Fremont resident, were at Ohlone College; Thiara, also a Fremont resident and a graduate of Washington High, was enrolled at San Francisco State, and Sharma, a Fremont resident, attended San Jose State.
Bizieff said eyewitness accounts indicated that the Camry was chasing a black, lowered sports Honda. Witnesses told police they noticed some "interaction" between the driver of that vehicle and those in the Camry. ..
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"But it wasn't a road rage thing, and it didn't seem like they were upset with each other," Bizieff said.
Two days after the crash, the driver of the Honda, finding out that he was being sought by the police as a witness, came forward and told investigators that he did not contribute to the deaths of the three women.
Bizieff would not reveal his name or any other personal details about him, except to say that he too had attended the same class at Chabot that night.
The Honda driver told police he did not know that the Camry was following him. He said that as he was approaching Whipple Street, he heard a loud bang.
Fearing that his friend, who was driving some two or three minutes behind, had gotten into an accident, he called him on his cell phone. The friend told him that he was fine, but that another car was involved in an accident. The Honda driver continued on his way.
Sidhu, the only daughter of her parents, immigrated to the U.S. with them from England when she was around eight years old.
"She was a very timid girl, but with friends she was open," Raz Mohammed, president of the Associated Students of Ohlone College, who had known the two girls since their high school days in John F. Kennedy in Fremont, told India-West.
He said her parents, Balwinder Singh Sidhu and Ravi, were "very strict" with their daughter.
Another friend and Ohlone College student, Nitin Garg, told India-West that both girls would always do their parents' bidding.
"In the four years I knew them, they did not do alcohol or drugs," Garg said. "They were clean."
Both girls, said Garg, who identified himself as Sidhu's best friend, were also active in the Indian Club at their high school, with Sidhu serving as its president in her senior year. Sharma, who graduated from the same school, was president of the club in 2003.
"Sidhu was so into cultural things," Garg said, sounding emotional. "And she didn't have an attitude."
He said the parents of Sharma, who has an older brother, "are totally devastated."
He said Sharma and Sidhu were planning to transfer to UC Davis for their pre-med course.
"It's all so sad," Garg said. "I still can't believe what's happened. I'm not able to grasp the fact that they're gone, even though I went to Vibha's funeral" on Sept. 25.
Sidhu's funeral is set for Oct. 1, at the Chapel of the Chimes in Hayward.
Chabot College district public information officer Jennifer Aries said the staff and students association will hold a memorial service for the three students on Sept. 29 at 5:30 p.m. in front of Building 1800.
A date has not yet been set for the Ohlone College memorial service.