Oceanside man dies in three-vehicle wreck

FALLBROOK (CNS) – A 36-year-old Oceanside man died Thursday in a three-vehicle collision on a rain-slick North County road.

The motorist was heading east on a curving stretch of State Route 76 in
Fallbrook at high speed when his 2000 Kia Sephia veered out of control near
Gird Road shortly before 7 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

The compact car clipped a westbound 2008 Nissan Altima, then was hit
broadside on the passenger side by a 2003 Mercury Sable driven by a 42-year-old
Temecula man, CHP public-affairs Officer Jim Bettencourt said.

Passers-by stopped and pulled the driver of the Kia out of his wrecked
sedan and tried in vain to revive him. The man, whose name was withheld pending
family notification, died at the scene of the accident.

Medics took the driver of the Mercury and his unidentified male
passenger to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido for treatment of minor to
moderately serious injuries, Bettencourt said.

The man who had been driving the Altima, a 48-year-old Temecula
resident, was uninjured.

The cause of the wreck was under investigation.

“It is not known at this time if alcohol or drugs played a factor in
this collision,” Bettencourt said. “At the time of the crash, the roadway was
wet, and there was light rain in the area.”