SJ Woman ID'd in Fatal Broccoli Truck Accident

A woman died Thursday when a truck carrying broccoli lost control and fell onto her Toyota

The Santa Clara County Coroner on Friday identified the woman who died when a big rig carrying a load of broccoli fell on her car as 49-year-old Hieu Thi Thy Huynh of San Jose.

Huynh, a beautician,  was killed Thursday morning when a big rig driver likely went too fast around a curve at Interstate Highway 680 at McKee Road in San Jose, according to the California Highway Patrol. Officer DJ Sarabia said the truck driver lost control and his trailer fell onto her Toyota.

Sarabia said the woman died at the scene. The driver of her Toyota Camry, Huynh's daughter, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Sarabia said.

Nguyen Nguyen, Huynh's oldest daughter, said her sister, Van Nguyen, was driving her mom to Independence High School to pick up her diploma, where she graduated the previous night.

"My mom's life was filled with hardship," Nguyen wrote in an email to NBC Bay Area. "But she never minded it, she was happy to take care of all of us. She would say that it was OK that she worked hard because she had to take care of us and that we could in turn take care of her when we were grown and successful."

Nguyen called her mother a "crazy cleaner," who loved the color purple and always overpacked her daughters' lunches, because she wanted to make sure they were full.

Nguyen said both her parents worked very hard to buy their family a home and send both their daughters to college.

She was very proud of her girls, she said:

"My mom hates it when other people brag about their kids achievements but she would always find some way to humbly describe how proud she was of her daughters. She's very cute, when she's happy, she says her heart pounds in her ears and there is a hot feeling in her chest," Nguyen wrote.

The driver of the PCC Logistics big rig, a man in his 30s, who was inititally thought to have suffered critical injuries was released from the hospital on Friday, Sarabia said.

He was not arrested, despite the fact that the CHP suspects that speed was a factor.

Sarabia said that the preliminary reports show that the big rig driver was likely going too fast around a cloverleaf turn as he was getting onto northbound 680. As he took the curve, Sarabia said the big rig driver's trailer fell onto the Toyota Camry.

Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-432-4758 or lisa.fernandez@nbcuni.com. Follow her at Twitter.com/ljfernandez.

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