Solo Crash Kills Driver South of Benicia Bridge

By George Kelly, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Apr. 6–A man driving on southbound Interstate 680 was killed in a solo accident just south of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge on Wednesday night, the California Highway Patrol said.

According to a press release, officers responded at 11:28 p.m. to passing construction workers’ initial report of a traffic collision on southbound I-680 at the Marina Vista Avenue off-ramp.

More calls led officers to an access road by the highway’s west side, accessible through Mococo Road, where they found an upside-down silver 2001 Ford Focus and the body of a man 60 feet away from it.

Emergency ambulance crews pronounced him dead shortly after midnight.

Officers said they believe the driver’s car veered sharply to the right and left the road. It then hit a regulatory sign, went briefly airborne, landed on a dirt embankment twice while rolling over. After that, it cleared a 5-foot chain-link fence and hit the ground two more times, ejecting the driver.

No license was found on the driver or in his car. The county coroner’s office will use fingerprints to establish his identity.

—–

Copyright (c) 2006, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.