One killed, three injured in head-on crash in Fresno County
UPDATE: Man killed in multi-car crash in Fresno County identified. Distracted driving suspected
One person was killed and three others were injured in a four-vehicle collision in Fresno County that all started because of distracted driving, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The collision took place at 3:30 p.m. at Goodfellow Avenue, west of Vista Avenue.
California Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Salas said that based on a preliminary investigation a 26-year-old Dinuba woman was believed to be responsible for the hitting three other vehicles in a pinball-like motion due to distracted driving.
Among the collisions was a head-one crash that resulted in the death of a 58-year-old Reedley man.
CHP said the Dinuba driver, who was identified in the CHP collision report as Anise Huerta, was not paying attention while driving a Chevy Silverado as she closed in a slowing moving vehicle.
To try to avoid hitting rear-ending a Toyota Camry, the Silverado driver swerved to the left and into oncoming traffic.
Huerta, however, still hit the slower Camry that had been in front of her.
It only got worse from there.
Huerta’s Silverado collided head on with a BMW that was driven by the Reedley man in the westbound lane of Goodfellow Avenue.
Then the force of the head-on collision caused the SUV to go back in the eastbound lane of Goodfellow, where the Silverado crashed into a Hyundai Accent.
CHP said the Reedley man in the BMW was transported to Adventist Hospital in Reedley, where he later died.
The Silverado driver was taken to Kaiser Hospital, where she suffered minor to moderate injuries.
The driver of the Accent, who was a 24-year-old woman from Fowler, was taken to CRMC for minor to moderate injuries.
Meanwhile, the Camry driver, who is a 49-year-old from Reedley, declined transportation after suffering minor injuries.
CHP said Huerta likely will be facing vehicular manslaughter charges.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to call CHP at 559-705-2200.
This story was originally published August 22, 2023 at 10:50 PM.
