A Santa Paula truck driver suffered moderate injuries in a crash that killed two people Tuesday on Highway 126 near Castaic, according to the California Highway Patrol.
According to the CHP, the unidentified 49-year-old Santa Paulan was driving a semi-truck towing a flatbed with 40,000 pounds of lemons about 9:45 a.m. February 23.
As the driver headed westbound and approached Chiquita Canyon Road, a compact car got onto the westbound side of the 126 directly into the path of the truck driven by the Santa Paulan. The sudden appearance of the car in the lane caused the Santa Paulan to turn the semi-truck to the left in an attempt to avoid a collision.
The semi however was unable to avoid hitting the car and the impact of the crash sent the semi into the eastbound lanes of traffic where it collided head-on with an eastbound semi-truck.
The Santa Paulan’s truck overturned spilling the load of lemons and crates across the highway.
Los Angeles County Fire and EMTs responded to the crash where the driver of the car — a 21-year-old male resident of Santa Clarita — and the driver of the second semi-truck — a 58-year-old San Bernardino man — were declared dead.
The Santa Paulan was taken to nearby Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia with moderate injuries.
Highway 126 was closed to traffic until about 6:30 p.m. when the CHP investigation was concluded and the accident scene cleaned up.
