Four-car collision in Madera County kills 69-year-old driver of pickup truck

A 69-year-old Delphi man died Friday morning in a four-car collision in Madera County, the California Highway Patrol said.

About 6:19 a.m. , the man, whose name has not been released, was driving a 1995 Dodge Dakota westbound on Highway 145 northeast of Madera and west of Road 36, the CHP said.

Meanwhile, Jose Alfredo Gomez, 22, was driving a 2005 Ford F-150 east. Behind him, Juan Alberto Infante, 34, was driving a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado and Alberto H. Lopez, 43, was driving a 2001 Ford Escape SUV. All are residents of Madera.

For unknown reasons, the driver of the Dodge Dakota pickup truck allowed the vehicle to drift left into the eastbound lane and hit the left front of the Ford F-150 pickup truck. He continued out of control until hitting the left rear of the Chevrolet Silverado, which caused the Dakota to spin, and the Ford Escape struck the right side of the Dodge Dakota.

The name of the driver of the Dodge Dakota is being withheld pending notification of family.

Gomez and Infante said they were not injured, while Lopez had minor injuries but said he’d get his own aid. A male passenger in Lopez’s car was taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno for a possible broken left leg.

Alcohol or drugs do not appear to be a factor in the collision, the CHP said.