TURLOCK – A wrong way driver caused a major crash on Highway 99 Tuesday night, closing down the southbound lanes of traffic.
The incident began at about 10:14pm after a wrong way driver was reported on Highway 99 near Fulkerth Road. Early reports indicate the vehicle, initially described as a red Ford sedan, made a u-turn on the highway and began driving in the wrong direction.
At one point the driver struck a patrol vehicle, but the officers were outside of it and not injured.
Moments later the vehicle appeared to have stopped again, but as officers approached they found the car had been involved in a crash with a pickup truck and began to catch fire. The pickup was thrown onto the median where it landed hanging halfway in the opposite lanes. It was said to have two occupants, at least one of which suffered major injuries. They were taken by ambulance to hospitals.
Early indications suggest the driver of the vehicle traveling the wrong way died at the scene.
The highway was closed while investigators took measurements and examined the scene. Traffic was diverted off Fulkerth Road and back on at West Main Street. By midnight, lanes began to open to southbound traffic again.
Ginnie Bertolosso
June 6, 2021 at 10:07 pm
There was a wrong way driver in same area of highway 99 last night as well, and at about the same time.
That is beyond weird. My boyfriend said, look at that idiot. They were driving so fast, going to wrong direction.