CHP reports Modesto man killed after running into Highway 99 traffic
A tractor-trailer struck and killed a Modesto man Friday morning on Highway 99 after the man ran from his Honda van parked along the highway’s shoulder and into traffic.
The California Highway Patrol reported in a news release that the fatality occurred just before 9 a.m. on northbound Highway 99 just south of Hammett Road. The CHP said the Modesto man was 42 years old and did not release his name pending notification of his family.
“Our preliminary investigation indicates the male adult was sitting in the driver’s seat of the Honda, parked on the east shoulder,” the release states. “... For unknown reasons at this time, the male adult exited the Honda and entered the traffic lanes, directly in front of the Freightliner.”
The CHP identified the tractor-trailer driver as Washington state resident Jatinder Singh and that he had been traveling in the right lane.
Singh said in a phone interview that the man had driven past him, pulled off to the shoulder and then ran toward his tractor-trailer. Singh pulled to the side of the highway after the accident.
“He opened his door and ran quickly under my truck,” Singh said, adding the entire incident took seconds and he tried to avoid the man by changing lanes but could not because of traffic. Singh said there was no one else in the van, which the CHP identified as a 2004 Honda.
The CHP reported the man came to rest on the east shoulder after being hit. The news release stated that drugs and or alcohol “do not appear to have contributed to this collision.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 12:26 PM.
