A driver speeding the wrong way on Interstate 5 in Chula Vista early Wednesday caused a fiery collision that killed her along with a teenage driver, authorities said.
The 67-year-old woman was heading north on the southbound side of the freeway shortly before 3:30 a.m. when her Honda Civic plowed into an oncoming Dodge Challenger just north of Palomar Street, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The impact caused the Dodge to burst into flames and left its driver, a 16-year-old boy, and the woman trapped in their mangled vehicles, CHP public-affairs Officer Salvador Castro said. Both died at the scene of the accident. Their names were withheld pending family notification.
The wreck left the southbound side of the interstate closed in the area for hours.
“A toxicology report is pending through the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine if alcohol and or drugs were a factor,” Castro said.
Updated at 1:50 p.m. April 10, 2024
–City News Service