Police Theorize Fatal Accident Driver Incapacitated at Time of Accident

The investigation into the April 22 traffic accident at Orange Grove Blvd. and Martelo Ave. in which a mother and her young daughter died has led Pasadena Police to conclude that the mother, who was driving, “may have become incapacitated prior to the collision.”

In the accident, a Toyota Sequoia driven by 36-year-old Robin Shaw of Altadena drifted across lanes of traffic, police said.

At Craig Ave., Shaw’s vehicle apparently veered into the westbound lanes of Orange Grove Blvd. where it collided with a Honda, causing a chain reaction collision involving five other vehicles, police said in today’s statement.

Shaw and her daughter Victoria, 9, both died of injuries sustained in the accident, authorities said at the time.

Today’s statement by police says that Shaw’s vehicle appears to have been travelling between 35 and 45 miles per hour at the time of the accident.

“From all accounts,” the statement reads, “speed was not a sole causal factor.”

The lack of pre-collision skid marks coupled with other facts gathered during the investigation has “led investigators to believe that Mrs. Shaw may have become incapacitated prior to the collision,” police said today.

An autopsy performed on Robin Shaw revealed that she died of blunt force trauma, police said.

Toxicology reports have been requested by Pasadena police but results have not been released by the los Angeles County Coroner’s Office at this time, the statement concludes.