The victim of a collision that killed four people in the other car, Osborn knows she is lucky to have survived with only a concussion and bruises. But the emotional bruising will take longer to heal, and she believes the horror of that early Monday morning will always be with her.
"I guess in that moment I technically thought I was going to die," said Osborn, 49, whose Ford Expedition collided with a car of construction workers heading to a job in Brentwood. "I thought, 'Well, this is it.' I just couldn't believe it."
In that moment before the dust settled, Osborn recalls an eerie silence; and then she looked outside.
"When I finally calmed down and gathered myself," said Osborn, "I looked out my window and saw a head. Then I looked out my other window and saw a body. And then I saw a woman walking toward me holding up her hand that was bandaged and bloody and she was crying for help. It was just like a war zone."
The woman behind Osborn, Ann Deyoe, was driving a Ford Explorer, which rolled several times. Her injuries included the loss of several fingers.
A regular commuter to her job in Pleasanton, Osborn said she is grateful that her SUV did what it's designed to do. The multiple airbags and crumple zones all functioned properly.
"When I saw my vehicle I just started crying, I couldn't believe I walked away," she said. "When I first began commuting over Vasco, my husband suggested I get a smaller, more gas-efficient car. But I said I felt safer in my bigger car. I'm glad I had it."
The cause of the crash, which took the lives of all four passengers in the Brentwood-bound car, a Ford Tempo, was still under investigation, but may be due in part to high speed. But even a safe driver, said Osborn, can become a victim.
"You don't have to be a bad driver to have an accident out there," said Osborn. "You can have a flat tire, a heart attack, you can hydroplane, whatever. You can be doing everything right and still have an accident … the road is very poorly designed and the plastic things dividing the road are only for show; that isn't going to stop anyone from crossing over."
Osborn recently spoke up about Vasco Road and the ongoing need for more improvements. At a press conference with State Senator Tom Torlakson, Osborn expressed support for legislation to make Vasco Road safer by doubling the traffic fines on it.
"Yes, that is why I got together with Senator Torlakson," said Osborn. "I felt that if I didn't speak up and say something about the conditions of the road, why should anyone else? I wanted to support his efforts."
For now, Osborn, who is on extended leave from work pending a release from her doctor, is resting, and working to get over a trauma she hopes to never experience again.
"I did walk away from the accident,' said Osborn, "but to tell you the truth right now I feel like an 800-pound gorilla just beat me up. I have some bruising, and some pain, mostly in my neck and back … it's just hard to get comfortable right now. But I'll heal."
Will she ever drive Vasco Road again?
"You know, someone else asked me that too, and I just started to cry when I thought about it," said Osborn. "I still don't know … there are two different ways to go to work and one takes longer than the other, but I'm just not sure. I'll have to wait and see."
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