Two-vehicle collision take the life of local man

A man died after another driver ran a red light and struck his vehicle on Easter Sunday.

The collision happened on State Route 86 and keystone road and remains under investigation, News 11’s Nico Payne spoke with California Highway Patrol and joins us with more details.

Yes officials tell us that the investigation is ongoing and that no arrests have been made as driving under the influence was not a factor in this incident.

“Preliminary investigations show that one of the vehicles that was traveling ran the stop which cause the collision,” said Officer Javier Amezcua, California Highway Patrol.

According to police reports the driver who ran the red light was a 19 year old male from Imperial who was traveling northbound on State Route 86 at 65 mph.

He struck a 47 year old male from Holtville who was traveling westbound at an unknown speed, he was pronounced dead on scene.

Officials tell us both drivers were wearing seatbelts at the time of the collision but are unsure exactly what caused the driver to not stop.

“At this time the collision is still under investigation, but we do know that alcohol was not involved,” added Amezcua.

We asked authorities if distracted driving was the cause and if they plan to obtain cell phone records.

“If the officer deems that necessary absolutely, a lot of the times its driver error, we have a green light and we take it for granted that the other vehicles are going to stop and that’s not necessarily the case or what usually happens at these intersections. So I would suggest that you drive a little more defensively, look out for that other guy that might run into you,” explained Amezcua .

The stoplights were not always in place at that intersection, we confirmed with CHP that they were put in about 5 years ago to make the area safer, but it continues to be a dangerous intersection.

As officials said drivers should drive more defensively and remain cautious.