A head-on crash early Sunday morning on a mountainous, rural East County roadway left one driver dead and the other badly injured, authorities said.
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The collision occurred about 12:35 a.m. on La Cresta Road near the community of Crest, San Miguel Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Justin Fuller said. He said speed was a factor in the crash, and that distraction and impairment may have also factored into the deadly wreck.
The California Highway Patrol was handling the investigation and would determine its exact cause, Fuller said.
A white Chevrolet pickup was heading downhill and a red Honda sedan was travelling uphill when the two vehicles collided, Fuller said. The Honda’s driver, a man, was trapped inside his vehicle and died before he could be taken to a hospital.
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His name and other details about his identity were not immediately available.
The other driver, also a man, had freed himself from his damaged pickup and was lying on the side of the roadway by the time fire crews arrived, Fuller said. He was taken to a hospital with “major traumatic injuries,” according to the battalion chief.
“That area, we have a lot of horrible accidents,” Fuller said, noting the two-lane nature of La Cresta Road on that stretch, and its many blind turns. He urged drivers to slow down, especially at night, and avoid distractions.
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