A 24-year-old motorist who was killed this week in a collision with a trash truck on state Route 163 just north of Mission Valley was identified by authorities on Tuesday.
Gerardo Becerra of Encinitas was headed north at high speed near Friars Road shortly after 6:30 a.m. Monday when the Ford Fusion he was driving rear-ended the slow-moving sanitation vehicle, which had its hazard lights activated, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.
Becerra died at the scene of the accident, the agency reported.
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He was the sole passenger in the vehicle and the trash truck driver was uninjured.
While investigators and first-responders tended to the scene, the right two lanes of SR-163 were closed for a few hours. They have since been reopened.
It’s unclear if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash, but the possibility is being investigated. CHP said a toxicology report of the deceased is pending from the Medical Examiner’s office.
