Interstate 15 traffic collision claims another life

BARSTOW — A woman died in a crash on Interstate 15 Wednesday morning, the fourth fatal collision in four days on Barstow-area roadways.

Maria Ruiz, 75, of Las Vegas, died when the truck she was riding in overturned on Interstate 15 south of Alvord Mountain Road overpass between Baker and Barstow at about 6:20 a.m., according to a California Highway Patrol report.

California Highway Patrol Officer John Golden said the left rear tire of a 2001 Ford Explorer pickup truck lost its tread causing the driver to loss control of the truck and slide into the median. The truck then began roll, Golden said.

Ruiz, the sole passenger, was partially thrown from the truck and decapitated, according to the CHP report. Emergency personal pronounced her dead at the scene.

The driver, a 78-year-old Los Angeles man, was airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center with major injuries but was conscious when emergency personnel arrived, Golden said. Both occupants of the truck were wearing seatbelts, the CHP report stated.

One northbound lane was closed until 10:20 a.m., Golden said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

CHP spokesman Officer Taj Johnson said there was no apparent cause for the recent trend of fatal crashes. The high winds that swept the area in the past few days came mostly in the afternoon, while the recent crashes occurred between the hours of midnight and 6:30 a.m.

All four of the recent collisions were single-vehicle rollovers, two of them involving victims who were not wearing seatbelts. Chris Cochran, a spokesman with the California Office of Traffic Safety said excessive speed is the most common cause of rollovers and crashes in general.

From 2006 to 2007, 6,988 traffic collisions along Interstate 15 from Riverside County to the Nevada state line resulted in 136 deaths and 3,935 injuries, according to statistics provided by CHP. Two of the recent deaths occurred on I-15. One person died on State Highway 247 and another on Interstate 40.

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