Driver dies after vehicle overturns into Merced County irrigation canal, CHP says
Authorities are investigating a fatal accident in which a vehicle overturned into a canal in Merced County on Tuesday.
At about 5:59 p.m., Los Banos area California Highway Patrol officers responded to a report of a vehicle in a canal in the area of Turner Island Road north of Henry Miller Avenue, according to a CHP news release.
According to authorities, a 2014 Honda driven by a man from Mendota was traveling north on Henry Miller Avenue at an unknown speed. It appears the man lost control of the vehicle, which traveled into the southbound lane and then back across the northbound lane and off the east edge of the roadway, the CHP said.
The vehicle overturned into an irrigation canal and ultimately came to rest on its roof in water about six feet deep. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, and it is unknown whether drugs or alcohol was a factor in the collision, according to the CHP.
