Man, 80, and woman, 79, killed after crash into roundabout being built on Highway 12
Two elderly people were killed in a crash Wednesday night when their vehicle collided with a highway roundabout being constructed west of Rio Vista, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A Toyota Prius with two occupants was traveling westbound on Highway 12, between Fairfield and Rio Vista, just before 10:40 p.m. when it struck a concrete barrier located at a construction project, CHP Solano spokesman Officer Dave Harvey said.
The driver, an 80-year-old Rio Vista man, and the passenger, a 79-year-old Suisun City woman, both succumbed to fatal injuries sustained in the crash, Harvey said. Their identities have not been released.
The construction project underway by Caltrans is turning the junction of Highway 12 and Highway 113 into a roundabout. The roundabout was being prepared for paving, scheduled from 8 p.m. Friday through 8 a.m. Saturday, according to a news release by Caltrans earlier this week.
Harvey said it was unknown whether drugs, alcohol, distracted driving or speeding were factors in Wednesday’s collision. The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
Sept. 16-20 is National Roundabout Week, according to the Federal Highway Administration, which has advocated for the increased use of the traffic controls as “modern roundabouts dramatically reduce severe crashes.” The agency says that roundabouts can reduce severe crashes an average of 80 percent.
This story was originally published September 19, 2019 at 11:11 AM.
