SLO teen dies in Highway 101 crash after car slams into freeway sign, overturns
A 19-year-old man died early Tuesday morning after the car he was riding in crashed on Highway 101 south of Avila Beach Drive, according to the California Highway Patrol.
San Luis Obispo resident Andres Candelas was pronounced dead following the crash, which took place at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, the CHP said in a news release.
The vehicle’s driver, 21-year-old Aron Gonzalez of San Luis Obispo, sustained major injuries, the agency said.
Gonzalez was driving a 2017 Dodge Charger northbound on Highway 101, approaching the Avila Beach Drive overcrossing, when he allowed the Charger to “travel to the right, off the roadway, directly toward the location of a freeway sign,” the release said.
“The front of the Dodge collided with the freeway sign” and continued past the sign toward Avila Beach Drive, the CHP said.
The car then veered off the dirt shoulder of the freeway and overturned onto Avila Beach Drive, colliding with the underside of the road overcrossing, the release said. The vehicle eventually came to rest on its wheels under the overcrossing.
As a result of the Dodge overturning, Candelas was partially ejected from the vehicle, according to the release.
He “succumbed to his injuries,” the CHP said.
Gonzalez, who had to be extricated from the Dodge, was taken to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo for treatment, the CHP said.
Candelas’ next of kin has been notified.
Drugs or alcohol are not suspected as factors in the crash, CHP officials noted.
The agency is continuing its investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call Officer R. McClure at 805-549-8700.
Candelas is the second San Luis Obispo teenager to die in a fatal crash this month.
Finnegan Lee Hartford Osbaldeston, 17, died Sept. 11 from injuries he received when a pickup truck ran a red light and slammed into his Volvo car on Highway 1 at the Highland Drive intersection, according to the CHP.
GoFundMe accounts have been set up for Candelas and Gonzalez.
They are the following: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-the-candelas-rodarte-family and https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-aron-gonzalezs-journey-to-recovery.
This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 1:59 PM.
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