A 44-year-old man from Santa Maria died in a Monday morning collision between a tractor-trailer rig and a sedan east of Santa Maria after the Honda Civic’s driver made a left turn in front of the big rig.
Emergency personnel from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department were dispatched to the intersection of East Betteravia and Philbric roads at 6:30 a.m., according to California Highway Patrol Officer Maria Barriga.
Domingo Perez Lopez, 32, of Santa Maria was driving a Honda Civic south on Philbric and had stopped at a stop sign when he started to make a left turn onto eastbound Betteravia directly in front of the truck driven by Fidel Gomes Reyes, 64, of Santa Maria, Barriga said.
The 2007 Honda Civic continued in a southwest direction and came to rest south of Betteravia while the semi-truck continued in a southwesterly direction and drove off the roadway. The truck also hit a power pole and fence, causing the trailer to overturn.
A 44-year-old man sitting in the left rear passenger seat died of his fatal injuries.
The Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Office had not released his name as of Tuesday afternoon.
Both drivers were taken to Marian Regional Medical Center for treatment of major and moderate injuries along with a second passenger in the sedan, Servillano Perez Lopez, age unknown, of Santa Maria.
The big rig carrying dirt ended up on its side on the shoulder near a utility pole that split into two pieces, sending wires and other equipment into the roadway and causing road closures that lasted into Monday afternoon.
Betteravia Road was shut down between Philbric and Telephone roads, while Philbric was closed at Stowell Road, according to the CHP.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.