Two people were killed Monday in separate crashes during rainfall on freeways in Pomona and Sun Valley.
A Hyundai Sonata sedan rear-ended a big rig about 4:20 a.m. on the eastbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway east of Dudley Street in Pomona, fatally injuring a woman in her 70s who was a passenger in the car, the California Highway Patrol reported. Authorities withheld her name, pending notification of her relatives.
According to the preliminary investigation, the big rig had stopped in the No. 2 lane because of an accident that had occurred nearby about a half-hour earlier near Garey Avenue, the CHP reported. In that crash, a big rig had caught fire, but no injuries had been reported.
“The (fatal) collision occurred when (the Hyundai driver) failed to slow down for the stopped big rig,” according to a CHP statement. “Neither alcohol nor drugs are suspected to be a factor in this collision.”
The Hyundai driver was taken to a hospital for treatment of “major” injuries, the CHP reported. The big rig driver was not injured.
A SigAlert was issued at 3:52 a.m. shutting down the eastbound HOV lane and lanes 1,2,3 and 4 at Garey Avenue. Lanes 3 and 4 were reopened at 4:33 a.m., and the remaining lanes were reopened about 8:10 a.m.
The Sun Valley, a car and a big rig collided about 4:15 a.m. on the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway at Tuxford Street, fatally injuring the driver of the smaller vehicle. He was identified Monday afternoon by the coroner’s office as William Nakahara, 63, of Cypress.
A SigAlert was issued at 4:43 a.m. for lanes 1, 2, 3 and 4. The HOV lane remained open. All lanes were reopened by about 11 a.m., the CHP reported.