December 3, 2009 – A driver heading west on I-8 was killed this morning when his pickup truck veered off the freeway and overturned several times, narrowly missing an SUV before coming to rest in the driveway of a Mission Valley business.
The man was heading west about 7:30 a.m. in a white 1990 Toyota pickup in one of the left lanes just east of the I-805 exchange when for unknown reasons he lost control and veered across the lanes, California Highway Patrol Officer Brad Baehr said.
The truck hit a 2004 Dodge Ram traveling in one of the right lanes and sent it into a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the next lane, Baehr said.
Both of those vehicles were able to pull over, but the truck continued out of control and went off the embankment and through a fence, before overturning and landing in the driveway of the Volunteers of America building on Camino del Rio North.
The driver was belted into the truck, but it appears he was partially ejected, Baehr said. He died at the scene.
Witnesses said the truck was traveling at a high speed before the accident.
Micah McFadden, a development coordinator at Volunteers of America, was on his way to work and was driving behind a red SUV on Camino del Rio North when the truck came off the freeway.
He said he saw the truck bounce several times before becoming airborne in front of the SUV. “It flew right over her hood,” he said.
McFadden said he and the woman driving the SUV pulled over. “She was very distraught,” he said.
McFadden went to see if he could aid the driver of the truck but saw that he was badly injured and called 911.
Camino del Rio North was shut down in both directions as officers investigated the crash and the debris was cleared away. Shattered glass and car parts were spread across the road, which had several gouge marks in it where the truck hit.
The driver’s identity has not yet been determined.
