A Los Angeles man died on Interstate 5 near Carlsbad Wednesday when he was struck after confronting another driver following a collision, witnesses told NBC 7 San Diego.
All lanes of northbound Interstate 5 were closed for several hours while California Highway Patrol officers investigated what prompted the collision just north of Palomar Airport Road.
Two cars traveling in the northbound lanes collided at 3:16 a.m., CHP officers said.
The driver of a Chevy Equinox told NBC 7 San Diego the driver of a red Pontiac Grand Prix suddenly stopped in front of him. The two cars collided leaving the Chevy on the right shoulder and the Pontiac in the center divide.
The Chevy driver, a 50-year-old Torrance man, said the Pontiac did not have lights on when the crash occurred.
He also said the driver of the Pontiac ran across I-5 and yelled at him and his wife who was riding in the passenger seat. The man then urinated on the side of the road and ran back across the highway to the center divide.
As the Pontiac driver ran back across the highway, he was struck twice.
Local
He was first struck in the #2 lane by a Toyota Corolla driven by a 57-year-old Los Angeles man. The driver of the Corolla suffered injuries to his hand and was transported to Scripps La Jolla Hospital.
CHP Sgt. Curtis Martin said vehicles traveling on I-5 are too fast for a human being to safely dodge.
“It’s almost impossible to judge the speed of a vehicle. There’s no possible way you’re going to outrun a vehicle,” Martin said.
Traffic was diverted for more than an hour while the debris was cleared.
At this time it is unknown if alcohol or drugs played a factor in this collision. It remains under investigation.
