Turlock man dies after pickup overturns into an irrigation canal
A 31-year-old man died Friday morning after his Chevrolet pickup overturned into an irrigation canal west of Turlock, according to the California Highway Patrol.
At about 8:45 a.m. a passing motorist discovered the wreckage on Harding Avenue, a lightly traveled, narrow levy road, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Olsen. He said the time of the crash remains under investigation but is believed to have occurred before sunrise.
Investigators determined the driver, a Turlock resident, was traveling east on Harding and approaching Moffett Road when he allowed the pickup to partially enter the south grass shoulder, where it sideswiped a metal pole.
The impact sent the pickup in a northeast direction, onto the north shoulder, then down an embankment, Olsen said. It landed on its roof in about three feet of water in the canal.
The driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Olsen said about half the people killed in collisions each year were not wearing seat belts.
