The Highway Patrol suspects alcohol and excessive speed to be the causes of a single-car fatal crash in late February in rural eastern San Luis Obispo County.
According to the CHP, at about 2:58 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 27 they got a report of a car crash at Hwy 58 and Red Hill Road, which is out in hills near Carrisa Plains School. It’s an oak wooded, hilly area at the edge of the Los Padres National Forest.
Officers determined that a 2006 Toyota Tacoma pickup was speeding east on Hwy 58 (The Blue Star Memorial Highway) east of Red Hill.
“Due to the driver’s unsafe speed,” the news release said, “ the vehicle straightened out a curve in the roadway and subsequently collided with a tree. As a result of the crash the driver succumbed to his injuries. There were no other occupants in the vehicle.”
The driver has been identified as Daniel Lopez Ortiz, 33 of Atascadero. The CHP said, “Alcohol is believed to have been a factor,” in the crash. The investigation is continuing.
