EL CAJON, Calif. (KGTV) - A driver was killed Tuesday night after the SUV he was driving plunged down an embankment off Interstate 8 in the El Cajon area.
The California Highway Patrol said the solo vehicle crash occurred on westbound I-8, just east Greenfield Drive, at about 10 p.m.
CHP officials said it appeared the driver, a 22-year-old man, overcorrected after his Chevy Equinox drifted into the dirt center divide. The maneuver caused the SUV to smash into a chain link fence and roll over several times down a 100-foot embankment. The battered vehicle was then lodged between the steel support poles of a billboard.
Responding emergency crews had to cut the driver out of the vehicle, but he was declared dead at the scene.
CHP Officer Kevin Pearlstein said it is unclear if the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
