Teen is seriously injured in high-speed crash with big rig along a Fresno highway

A 19-year-old woman was thrown from her car and seriously injured after the vehicle rear-ended a tractor-trailer at high speed on Highway 180 early Saturday, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Ceara Eldridge of Fresno was driving a 2018 Hyundai Elantra west in the far right lane east of Clovis Avenue shortly after 5 a.m.

In front of her, a 2008 Peterbilt big rig was traveling in the same lane and driven by Keith Miller, 62, of Fresno.

The Hyundai was driving at an “unsafe speed,” and the woman could not slow or stop before running into the back of the big rig, according to a CHP report.

The car overturned and Eldridge was thrown from the vehicle. She was not wearing a seat belt, according to officers.

Eldridge was taken to Community Regional Medical Center.

The driver of the truck was not injured.

Alcohol and drugs are not expected to be a factor in the crash. Officers are still investigating.

Bethany Clough

The Fresno Bee

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Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers’ questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.