One dead in wrong-way, head-on crash on Highway 41 in Fresno, CHP says
A wrong-way driver was killed Tuesday afternoon in a head-on crash on Highway 41 near the North Friant Road offramp in Fresno.
The California Highway Patrol reported the incident on northbound 41 just south of the offramp occurred around 4:25 p.m., causing traffic to back up on the highway during rush hour.
UPDATE: Victim in Highway 41 fatal crash identifed as Fresno man, 50
A male driver in a Hyundai was traveling south on 41 in a sedan when the vehicle crossed the highway median where it’s grass only and into northbound traffic. The Hyundai then collided head-on with a Range Rover that was exiting the highway at the Friant offramp.
The Hyundai driver, believed to between 30 to 40-years-old, died in the collision.
The 56-year-old man of the Range Rover was not seriously injured and wasn’t taken to the hospital.
The drivers were the only people in the cars.
“(Hyundai driver) was getting on to southbound from Friant and came around the circular on-ramp and instead of just going south on one of the two southbound lanes, he crossed both of those lanes then went through the grass median because there is a grass portion and not an actual barrier,” CHP Sgt. Joseph Bianchi said.
“He basically went southeast across all the northbound lanes.”
It was not clear why the driver crossed over the highway median.
The Friant offramp was closed for the emergency response and investigation, causing significant traffic backups on both sides of the highway. The first lane of the Friant offramp reopened at 6:30 p.m.
This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 6:21 PM.
