Three people were killed and one was seriously injured in a pair of separate solo vehicle crashes in Merced County this weekend.
The victims' names haven't been released by the Merced County Coroner's Office.
The first crash was reported around 8 a.m. Saturday on Highway 165 in the Stevinson area. The driver, an 18-year-old man, was traveling northbound in a 2002 GMC Sierra truck on Highway 165 south of Sixth Avenue at an unknown speed, according to Officer Luis Lara, CHP spokesman.
For unknown reasons, the driver allowed the truck to travel across the southbound lanes and off the road, where it crashed into several trees. The driver sustained fatal injuries. He was wearing his seatbelt.
The other crash was reported shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday on Oakdale Road, just before the intersection of Highway 59, in a rural area north of Merced. The truck was carrying three people in the front seat.
A 24-year-old man was driving the turquoise Mazda B3000 truck eastbound on Oakdale Road, approaching Highway 59. According to a witness traveling behind the Mazda, for unknown reasons the truck traveled off Oakdale Road and down an embankment.
All three people in the truck were ejected as the truck turned over and went through a barbed wire fence. The 24-year-old driver and a 42-year-old woman who was the middle front passenger were pronounced dead at the scene.
A 23-year-old woman who was the right side front passenger was flown to a Modesto hospital with serious injuries. Lara said the woman was conscious when officers arrived at the scene, but was unable to talk.
Lara said it's unknown whether DUI was a factor in either crash. Both remain under investigation.
Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.
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