This story has been updated with new information.
A Redlands man died after his car went over the right shoulder and overturned Wednesday morning on westbound Highway 118 west of Rocky Peak Road in Simi Valley.
The incident was reported at 4:49 a.m. when the California Highway Patrol received 911 calls reporting a single-vehicle crash, according to a CHP news release. Patrol units found a 2017 Buick with rollover damage in the bushes on the highway’s right shoulder.
The Ventura County Fire Department arrived at the same time as the CHP and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was inside the vehicle.
On Friday, the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office identified the driver killed in the accident as Matthew Thompson, 29.
He was not wearing a seat belt, said Officer Ryan Ayers of the CHP's Moorpark office in an email Wednesday.
Thompson was driving westbound, west of Rocky Peak, at an undetermined speed when his vehicle veered from the road onto the dirt- and brush-covered right shoulder, according to the CHP's account.
The Buick continued through the brush until it struck a rise in the terrain, went airborne and flipped end-over-end. The vehicle landed on its roof on the right shoulder.
It wasn't immediately known if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash, CHP officials said.
The right lane of the westbound 118 was closed for about an hour during the investigation.
Regular seatbelt use is the most effective way for people to reduce fatalities in motor vehicle collisions, CHP officials said in the release.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the CHP’s Moorpark office at 805-553-0800.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com , 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes .
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Driver dead after solo Highway 118 crash in Simi Valley
Most Popular
Comments / 0