Driver in fatal accident with Cal Poly student charged with manslaughter

April 25, 2019

The man involved in a high-profile collision in Arroyo Grande that killed an 18-year-old Cal Poly student has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office. [Cal Coast Times]

On Oct. 7, 2018, Jordan Grant, a first-year computer engineering student, was riding his motorcycle southbound on Highway 101 near El Campo Road. Richard Giuli, a resident of the Falcon Ridge Estates on the west side of Highway 101, attempted to make a left turn onto the highway and pulled out in front of Grant’s motorcycle, killing the Cal Poly student.

Prosecutors recently charged Giuli with manslaughter. Giuli is scheduled in court for an arraignment hearing on Thursday.

Following the fatal crash, Grant’s parents, James and Becky Grant, lobbied local officials and Caltrans to stop allowing left hand turns across four lanes of the highway while they seek a permanent solution to the danger that the intersection poses. In turn, the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) conducted an assessment of the implications of restricting access to the intersection of Highway 101 and El Campo Road.

Then, earlier this month, the SLOCOG board voted in favor of, as a short-term fix, not allowing left turns onto and off of Highway 101 at El Campo Road. Additionally, the SLOCOG board voted in favor of the same restrictions for three other Highway 101 intersections between Traffic Way in Arroyo Grand and Los Berros Road in Nipomo. Caltrans plans to implement the changes.