CHP: 2015 Deadly crashes in Monterey County already surpass last year’s total

Three crashes, five dead in the last five days. With all these recent accidents, News Channel 5 decided to take a look at the numbers for deadly crashes so far in 2015 for Monterey County.

According California Highway Patrol investigations, Monterey County has far surpassed previous years in terms of the number of deadly crashes.

“Last year we had 16 collisions and (it) resulted in 17 deaths,” CHP Officer Oscar Loza said referring to fatal crashes.

This year is a different story, with 20 deadly collisions leading to 22 people losing their lives, Loza said.

While Loza added the numbers vary from year to year, there may be a good explanation for the uptick in 2015.

“Every year we get new drivers on the road and every year people are living longer,” Loza said.

With more cars on the road, officers said it also means the potential for more crashes.

“Age does play a factor but it’s not our older drivers who are causing most of our collisions, it’s actually our younger drivers,” Loza said.

That may be true for crashes in general, but let’s break down two of the most recent ones.

“Our (Highway) 68 and Foster (Road) crash, that was a 16-year-old driver,” Loza said.

That one was a fiery crash that took the lives of two brothers early Friday morning.

“But then our crash on (CA State Route) 183 was a 50-year-old driver,” Loza said, which happened Tuesday night involving a big rig near Espinosa Road in Salinas.

“We do get both sides of the spectrum,” Loza concluded.

While the CHP is investigating the causes of these three recent crashes, one trend they’re finding is that the drivers are losing control of their cars—a result of possible distracted driving, officers said.