Authorities identify driver killed in Merced County head-on crash

The Merced County Sheriff Coroner’s Office has identified the driver killed in a Merced County head-on collision that injured four other people on July 4, as 22-year-old Cristián Castillo Acosta.

The California Highway Patrol said officers responded to the two-vehicle collision at about 4:35 p.m. Thursday in the area of Canal School Road, north of State Route 33. According to authorities, Acosta was driving a 2017 Nissan south on Canal School Road at an unknown speed with an adult female passenger.

For unknown reasons, the vehicle traveled across the center lines of the road and into the northbound lane where it collided head-on with a 2002 Chevrolet driven by a 36-year-old man from Stockton, the CHP said. The collision caused the Chevrolet to overturn on to its roof and the vehicle came to rest on the east shoulder of the roadway.

According to the CHP, it appears Acosta was not wearing a seat belt and suffered fatal injuries in the collision. The female passenger was transported to a Modesto hospital for treatment of major injuries.

The driver of the Chevrolet and a 34-year-old female passenger were transported to a Modesto hospital with major injuries. Authorities said a juvenile passenger in the Chevrolet was transported to Valley Children’s Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

According to authorities, neither drugs nor alcohol appear to be a factor in the collision.