A driver who apparently attempted an unsafe passing maneuver died this week in a fiery collision in the Santa Clarita area, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred about 6:45 a.m. Tuesday on San Francisquito Canyon Road, just south of Dry Gulch Road, in an area where two lanes are separated double yellow lines, the CHP reported.
The unidentified male motorist from Lancaster died at the scene.
The preliminary investigation revealed the driver was southbound on San Francisquito Canyon Road in a white 2006 Kia Rio and attempted a passing maneuver, traveling into the northbound lane. Seeing approaching northbound traffic, he “made an evasive turning movement to the right and traveled back onto the southbound lane and into the dirt right shoulder,’’ according to the CHP.
The driver then lost control of the Kia and traveled back across the yellow lines into the northbound lane, where the compact car collided head-on with a white 2010 Lexus ES350 driven by a Santa Clarita woman, the CHP reported. The Kia then caught fire and became fully engulfed in flames.
The Lexus driver was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia for treatment of injuries described as moderate, according to the CHP.
