CLICK HERE if you’re viewing on a mobile device.
ORINDA — A Pleasanton woman died early Monday after losing control of her car and running off a rural road, the California Highway Patrol said.
The crash happened at about 12:20 a.m. on San Pablo Dam Road, just north of Bear Creek Road, the CHP said. Authorities did not immediately identify the 33-year-old woman, pending notification of her relatives.
According to the CHP, the woman was driving a 2013 Kia Optima away from Interstate 80 toward Orinda when the car veered to the right and went off the roadway, through a metal guardrail and down a steep embankment. It also hit several trees, the CHP said. The car ended up in a creekbed.
The crash started a fire in the 500 block of San Pablo Dam Road that Moraga-Orinda firefighters extinguished.
The Kia appeared to have been going about 70 mph, according to CHP officers at the scene. A friend had been following her in another car at the time of the crash, they said.
The woman does not appear to have been wearing her seat belt. She was thrown from the Kia and died at the scene, the CHP said.
“The impact was very violent, which indicates that there was a lot of speed involved,” CHP Sgt. Todd Fetterly said. “Additionally, there’s no skid marks, so there was no evasive action taken, so that may explain why the impact was so severe.”
The CHP said no other cars played a factor in the crash, and that an autopsy will determine whether drugs or alcohol were involved. Officers at the scene do not believe they were, the CHP said.
