Man Killed When Pickup Plunges Off of Interstate 80 in Fairfield

By Bay City News

A passenger in a Dodge pickup was killed when the truck crashed through a guardrail and drove off of westbound Interstate Highway 80 in Fairfield, landing on its roof on an off-ramp below, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

The victim, a 55-year-old man, was riding in the right front passenger seat when the driver lost control on the rain-slicked highway near the Red Top Road off-ramp shortly after noon, CHP Officer Chris Parker said.

The truck went off the highway and nearly landed on a CHP patrol car on the off-ramp, Parker said. The officer inside the car accelerated to avoid the pickup, and the left rear of the patrol car received only "a glancing blow," he said.

The pickup was severely crushed on the passenger side, Parker said.

The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene but the driver, a 62-year-old man, suffered only minor injuries, Parker said.

The CHP issued a Sig-alert for the off-ramp around 12:15 p.m., and the Solano County coroner's office was notified around 12:30 p.m.

The off-ramp reopened at 1:29 p.m.