CHP: Driver may have fallen asleep in crash on NB Highway 101

SAN JOSE >> A male passenger sleeping in the back seat of a box truck was killed early Wednesday when the vehicle overturned on northbound Highway 101 near McKee Road, a crash that disrupted the morning commute, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The driver of the truck, a 67-year-old man from Orange County, told the CHP that he “dozed off” just before the crash, according to Officer Ross Lee. The driver sustained major injuries.

At 3:47 a.m., the CHP first received reports of an overturned truck on north 101 near McKee Road. The truck was blocking the two right lanes and the shoulder, and by 4 a.m. all lanes of traffic were closed.

The driver told the CHP he and the passenger, a 64-year-old man from Orange County, were driving from Southern California and had been on the road for several hours, Lee said. After the driver fell asleep, the truck veered to the right embankment and flipped over.

It was not immediately clear if the passenger was wearing a seat belt. His name had not been released by the coroner’s office as of Wednesday afternoon.

The crash also caused fuel to spill onto the highway, Lee said. But rain washed it away.

Traffic on north 101 was diverted at Alum Rock Avenue. As an alternative route, the CHP advised a detour from northbound Interstate 280 to northbound Highway 87 to northbound 101.

By 6 a.m., one lane of 101 was reopened at the scene of the crash, and all but the slow lane was reopened at 9:42 a.m. The slow lane remained closed into the afternoon as Caltrans crews repaired the guardrail.

There were several other crashes and reports of roadway flooding during a wet Wednesday morning commute. On northbound 680, several motorists were involved in a crash with vehicle that was abandoned on the roadway, Lee said. There were no injuries reported, and authorities were searching for the abandoned vehicle’s registered owner.