Passenger killed, 4 hurt in solo vehicle crash on I-5 in Merced County, CHP says
One person was killed Tuesday morning in a solo vehicle crash on I-5 in Merced County.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash happened at 12:08 a.m. on southbound I-5, south of Highway 33.
According to CHP, the 2024 Subaru Outback had five people in the vehicle that was traveling in the No. 1 lane of the I-5 when for unknown reasons, the driver made an unsafe turning movement toward the center divider of I-5 and entered the dirt/gravel portion of the center divider. The driver turned the Subaru back toward the roadway and lost control. The Subaru began to rotate in a clockwise direction across both lanes of I-5, the paved shoulder, and onto the dirt/gravel shoulder where the Subaru began to overturn and crashed into a barbed wire fence.
The Subaru was facing a northeasterly direction on the dirt/gravel shoulder when it stopped moving, CHP said.
The left rear passenger of the Subaru was pronounced dead. The driver suffered minor injuries and the three passengers suffered minor to major injuries, CHP said.
Alcohol and/or drugs do not appear to be a factor in this crash, CHP said.
