SWANTON — A solo vehicle crash along Santa Cruz County’s North Coast over Memorial Day weekend turned fatal after the car careened along the boarder of the coastal highway before dawn, flipped over and came to rest on the roadway.
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According to a release from California Highway Patrol’s Santa Cruz unit, officers were called around 4 a.m. Saturday to an area along Highway 1 north of Swanton Road after receiving reports of a crash. Law enforcement units discovered that a black 2015 Chrysler 200 was traveling southbound along the highway at an undetermined speed when it crossed into the northbound lane, collided with the east guardrail, continued south, crashed into a dirt embankment and flipped over before landing back on the highway itself.
The two occupants of the Chrysler sustained fatal injuries and were pronounced deceased at the scene.
The cause of the crash, as well as reasons for the driver veering into the northbound lane, are still under investigation, according to the CHP. It is not yet known if alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash and it is also unclear if the occupants were wearing seatbelts.
A spokesperson for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff Coroner told the Sentinel Tuesday that the identities of the decedents likely will not be confirmed for another several days.
Anyone with potentially helpful information can contact the CHP at 831-796-2160.
According to Santa Cruz CHP’s Memorial Day holiday enforcement results that were posted Tuesday, the North Coast incident was the only fatal crash the agency responded to Friday to Monday, as thousands of regional residents flocked to the coast. Overall, the agency issued 410 citations — 247 of which were for speeding — along with 119 verbal warnings and 25 arrests, including 19 DUIs.