Watsonville, CA : One person died and another injured after a car collided with a street sweeper on Harkins Slough Road in Watsonville Monday morning, Oct 19, 2015

A 16-year-old boy was killed and his 15-year-old female passenger injured when their car struck a street sweeper on Harkins Slough Road Monday morning.

Both teenagers are from Watsonville, but the school they attended has not been identified, said California Highway Patrol officer Trista Sharp.

According to Lt. Saul Gonzalez of the Watsonville Police Department, the teenagers were driving north on Harkins Slough Road in a Volkswagen Jetta when they clipped the back end of a street sweeper operated by a city of Watsonville employee about 10:15 a.m.

The street sweeper was turning left onto Harkins Slough Road from a road that services the rear of Ramsay Park, near the Nature Center.

The driver of the Jetta, which reportedly was speeding, attempted to avoid the street sweeper. However, his evasive maneuver resulted in the vehicle flipping repeatedly. The driver, who remains unidentified, was killed on impact.

The passenger, who also remains unidentified, was extracted from the vehicle and transported to Natividad Medical Center in Salinas.

“The street sweeper driver appears to be physically OK, but he will be evaluated further,” Gonzalez said.

Once the victims were removed from the scene, CHP took over the investigation from the Watsonville Police Department.

Harkins Slough Road was closed between Ford Street and Ohlone Parkway Road to all traffic other than residents while CHP performed a traffic collision reconstruction to determine the precise chain of events that resulted in the fatal crash. The road was reopened at 4:30 p.m.

Harkins Slough Road runs parallel to Main Street, connecting South Green Valley Road to Ohlone Parkway before passing Ramsay Park and becoming Walker Street at Ford Street. It is frequently used as an alternative to Main Street.

Source:

Watsonville teen dead, passenger injured in crash with street sweeper