NORTH COAST, Calif. — A head-on wreck on Highway 20 in Mendocino County on Monday afternoon killed a Willits man and closed the roadway for several hours.
The wreck occurred at 4:11 p.m. on Highway 20 just east of Marina Drive, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Ukiah Area office.
The CHP on Monday night did not release the name of the man who died pending notification of next of kin.
It also did not identify the second driver, a 26-year-old man from Ukiah who suffered minor injuries.
The agency said the Willits man was driving a 2001 Dodge Ram pickup truck eastbound on Highway 20 at an undetermined speed while towing another 2001 Dodge Ram truck on a flatbed trailer.
For reasons that the CHP said are so far undetermined, the Dodge’s driver lost control of his pickup and it crossed the double yellow lines into the westbound lane.
There, it collided head-on with a 2017 box truck driven by the Ukiah man, the CHP said.
The pickup’s driver was not wearing a seat belt and he sustained fatal injuries, according to the report.
The CHP said the box truck’s driver, who was using his safety equipment, was transported to Howard Memorial Hospital as a precautionary measure.
As of Monday night, the CHP said investigators suspected alcohol and/or drugs were possible factors in the wreck.
The highway was closed while officers conducted the initial investigation, with the CHP reporting shortly after 8 p.m. that the roadway had reopened.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.