BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — One person is dead after a head-on crash involving a semi-truck on Highway 43 on Wednesday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
According to CHP, officers were dispatched to the crash at Highway 43 north of Panama Lane at 12:15 p.m.
Officers say a Bakersfield man, 42, was driving a Kia Sol on southbound Highway 43 and a semi-truck was headed northbound on the highway at about 57 mph.
For an unknown reason, the driver of the Kia Sol, who was not wearing a seatbelt, veered into the northbound lane directly in front of the semi-truck. The left front of the Kia Sol and the right front of the semi-truck crashed.
The Kia then spun out and overturned on its side, according to CHP. The semi-truck came to a rest on the west shoulder.
The driver of the Kia was pronounced dead at the scene and the semi-truck driver had minor injuries.
State Route 43 was temporarily closed between just north of Panama Lane and the State Route 58 junction after the crash, according to Caltrans.
It is not immediately clear if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the CHP in Buttonwillow at 661-764-5580.
