All lanes of northbound Interstate Highway 680 near the unincorporated community of Pacheco are now open after a fatal vehicle crash Tuesday morning.
At about 9:30 a.m., fire crews responded to a call about a crash between state Highway 4 and the Pacheco Boulevard off-ramp, according to Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesman Capt. Chris Toler.
Initial 911 calls reported multiple vehicles involved, including a flat-bed truck and a car, in which one man died, Toler said.
The California Highway Patrol at about 10 a.m. reported that three lanes of northbound I-680 were closed. All lanes were reopened at about noon.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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That stretch of I-680 is straight with very mild grades – an odd place for a wreck unless caused by a medical or mechanical issue. Fog was present but not overly dense. Visibility was decent given the conditions. Otherwise, driver error or driver negligence on the part of someone.
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We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
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I am more and more inclined to stay off the freeway and take the surface streets if possible, even if it takes a few minutes longer. Every time I have been on the freeway in recent months, I see at least one crazy driver, an accident looking for a place to happen. It just isn’t worth the risk. I know there are crazy drivers and accidents on city streets, but I don’t think the accidents are as likely to be fatal.
Freeways seem safer than surface streets. You get far more visibility, predictability, and you don’t have pedestrians, personal delivery service driver sprinting across streets with barely a look, children playing, animals, bicycles, cross traffic, people running red lights, cars parked adjacent to traffic lanes and vegetation that block visibility, etc. that are common on surface streets.
When on a freeway you can choose a speed that you feel comfortable and safe with. If it’s on the lower/slower side of things then you likely stay in the right hand lanes and others will be happy with that. When people are paying attention the odds are next to zero that they will be involved in a collision, much less a fatal one.
I agree that surface streets probably have more accidents, but they aren’t nearly as likely to be fatal. Even if you’re at the speed limit in the slow lane on the freeway, that might be too slow for everyone else around you.
It continues to dismay me that so many vehicles speed at nearly 100 MPH on the 24 between the tunnel and WC, the 680 between WC and Martinez and the 4 between Martinez and Oakley.
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You must be from SoCal cuz only those people preface “the” before the route number.
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Next time you see a high speed vehicle approaching behind, initialize your turn signal in their direction and fake a lane change. Then maybe watch ’em crash.
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You mean on 4 between Richmond and Antioch? C’mon guy.
Yeah it do get tight right there used to a lot of accidents there to they fixed it but still is a little tight.