Last Updated on February 24, 2020 by CCAR Staff
A Banning tow truck driver was seriously injured after he was struck while responding to pick up a vehicle from an earlier incident on Highway 79 in Beaumont on Sunday morning, officials said.
At around 10:38 a.m., the tow truck driver came to the scene of a solo rollover crash on the right shoulder of Highway 79 southbound, California Highway Patrol Officer Matt Napier said. The driver in that incident, who was uninjured, and a CHP officer were at the scene when the tow truck arrived, he said.
While the tow truck driver, a 49-year-old Banning man, was out of his truck to recover the overturned car, he was struck by a white Toyota Corolla driven by a 29-year-old Riverside woman, Napier said.
“Due to her unsafe speed, she was unable to maintain control fo the vehicle,” he said. “She veered left and collided with the concrete median, the force of the impact propelled her vehicle across the lanes to the right. The Corolla crossed onto the right shoulder where the tow truck was, striking (the tow truck driver) and the left side of his tow truck.”
The tow truck driver was taken Riverside University Health System Medical Center.
The southbound lanes of the highway were blocked for nearly two hours during CHP’s investigation, Napier said.
“This is still under investigation,” he said. “But as of right now (the female driver) has not been arrested and alcohol and drugs were ruled out as possible factors.”
