Felipe Loera and Maria Salas Killed In Crash

The two people killed in the Merced collision on Sunday morning have been ID’d as Maria Salas and Felipe Loera. 

The fatal collision took place on October 10th around 6:05 a.m. at the intersection of Highway 152 and Volta Road.

CHP reported that a Honda Accord was driving southbound on Volta Road when it veered across the westbound lanes and into the eastbound Highway 152 lanes. 

As a result, it collided with an eastbound big rig that was pulling a trailer filled with dairy products. 

Both the driver, Loera, and the passenger, Salas, of the Honda sadly died at the scene. 

The big rig driver has been identified as 50-year-old Fidel Soto Artega. He was not injured in the collision. 

Authorities shut down the eastbound lanes for two hours following the collision.

There is an ongoing investigation to determine what may have factored into the deadly collision. 

It is most often those in passenger cars that are killed in large truck collisions. Semi trucks typically weigh 20-30 times as much as passenger cars which leaves occupants of smaller cars more vulnerable. 

According to the D.O.T., in 2019 67% of fatal collisions involving large trucks were occupants of a passenger car.

JT Legal Group sends our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Felipe Loera and Maria Salas.