A woman whose car crashed on eastbound California Highway 4 Monday night died after she was struck after she ran across the highway, crossed the center metal guard rail and tried to cross the westbound lanes, according to an announcement by the California Highway Patrol.
The incident began about 8:26 p.m., when Contra Costa California Highway Patrol (CHP) was told that a single vehicle had been involved in an accident on eastbound Highway 4 west of Pacheco Boulevard.
Emergency personnel and CHP officers arrived to find a blue Saturn sedan had collided with the center divider of the eastbound lanes of the highway.
Several witnesses had stopped on the right shoulder of eastbound Highway 4, according to the CHP report, and the woman driver of the Saturn was lying unresponsive in the westbound lanes of traffic.
According to a report on the initial investigation, the woman had been driving the Saturn at an unknown speed when it veered off the roadway and crashed into the center guard rail. Witnesses told officers the woman left her car, stepped over the guard rail and began running across Highway 4’s westbound lanes.
She then was struck by a white Dodge pickup truck, the report said. The man driving the truck remained at the scene and cooperated with the CHP, officers said. Witnesses provided other information, the report said.
When emergency responders and officers arrived, they found the unresponsive woman lying in the westbound lanes.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the report. However, her identity was not made available immediately. Officers said the Contra Costa County Sheriff-Coroner Office would release that information later.
Officers said it isn’t known if alcohol or drugs were involved, and the accident is still under investigation.
The California Highway Patrol is asking anyone who has information about the event to call Contra Costa CHP in Martinez, 925-646-4980.
