A 29-year-old Salinas man was killed in a wreck early Sunday morning at the intersection of Murray Avenue and Chestnut Street in Gilroy, the California Highway Patrol confirmed Monday in a press release.
Headed southbound on Murray Avenue in a 2004 Mercedes at approximately 2:56 a.m., the driver approached the 90-degree turn onto Chestnut Avenue but failed to slow adequately to negotiate the turn, according to the CHP.
The driver applied his brakes but the vehicle’s momentum from traveling at a high rate of speed caused the vehicle to go over a curb and the sidewalk before colliding with a tree, officers report.
When first responders attempted to make contact, the driver was unresponsive and the engine block was smoking. The driver died of his injuries at the scene after he was removed from his car.
CHP Officer Herb Kellog said the driver was not wearing his seat belt and it is unknown if he was impaired in any way at the time of the fatal wreck.
The driver’s name has not yet been released, pending notification of next of kin.
