NORTH COAST, Calif. – An early Friday morning crash on Highway 20 in Mendocino County left one driver dead and another injured.
The wreck occurred at 6:50 a.m. on Highway 20 near Marina Drive east of Ukiah, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Friday morning report.
The CHP said a 56-year-old Potter Valley man died in the wreck, with a 23-year-old Clearlake Oaks man injured.
The names of the two drivers were not released in the Friday report.
The CHP said that the Potter Valley man was driving a 2006 Toyota westbound on Highway 20 just west of Marina Drive at an unknown speed while the Clearlake Oaks man was driving a 2014 Peterbilt towing a 2018 Landoll trailer eastbound at a stated speed of 55 miles per hour.
For an unknown reason, the CHP said the Toyota traveled in a southwesterly direction over the solid double yellow lines and collided with the left side of the Peterbilt.
After hitting the Peterbilt, the CHP report said the Toyota continued in a westerly direction. The front of the Toyota then hit the left side of the Landoll trailer and continued on, side-swiping the trailer’s left side.
Following the crash with the semi and trailer, the Toyota traveled, out of control, in a southerly direction over the south solid white line of Highway 20 and down the hillside, south of the highway, the report said.
The CHP said the Toyota came to rest on the south descending hillside of Highway 20.
The Toyota’s driver sustained fatal injuries as a result of the crash, the CHP said. The Peterbilt’s driver sustained moderate injuries.
Traffic control was in effect for about two hours at the crash scene, according to CHP reports.
The CHP said both men were wearing their seat belts.
The cause of the collision is still under investigation, with the CHP reporting that neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to be factors.
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