Driver of Camaro dies after topping 100 mph on Valley highway with the CHP in pursuit
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The driver of a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro speeding at well over 100 mph crashed into another car and died Friday night on Highway 198 near Hanford, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Shortly after 10 p.m., the car sped past a CHP officer “at an extremely high rate of speed” on eastbound Highway 198 near 11th Avenue in Hanford, said Sgt. Brian Pennings.
Officers turned on their lights and attempted to pull over the car, but never caught up to it, he said.
“The officers were never in position directly behind the vehicle,” he said. “The vehicle never slowed down. It just kept going.”
Near Highway 198 and Sixth Avenue, the driver of the Camaro, a 33-year-old man from Exeter, collided with the rear of a 2016 Honda Civic. Both vehicles went down an embankment and overturned.
The Civic was driven by a 51-year-old woman from Visalia, who suffered major injuries. She was taken by ambulance to Kaweah Health Medical Center in Visalia.
The man, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead on the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the CHP.
It’s unknown if drugs or alcohol was a factor in the crash. The CHP will work with the medical examiner to get toxicology test results.
Drivers are much more likely to survive a crash wearing a seat belt, Pennings noted.
Just 3% of people don’t wear seat belts in California, but they make up about half of fatalities in traffic accidents, he noted.
“There’s a direct correlation,” he said.
