The accident occurred just after 6:30 p.m. near Manning Avenue and Riverside Avenue.
Fresno County, CA – 19-year-old Mattix Salmon of Kingsburg was killed after his pickup truck was sideswiped by a semi-truck Monday evening in Fresno County, authorities reported.
The accident occurred just after 6:30 p.m., December 22, near Manning Avenue and Riverside Avenue.
According to investigators, Marlon Tavarez of San Joaquin was driving a big rig east on Manning Avenue, and Salmon was driving a Chevrolet Silverado west.
The semi-truck veered into the westbound lane and sideswiped Salmon’s car. The impact caused the Chevrolet to leave the roadway and overturn several times, landing onto its roof.
Salmon died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Tavarez was not injured and stayed at the scene.
Investigators do not believe drugs and alcohol played a role in the collision.
In 2023, Fresno County recorded 126 fatal collisions, a notable decrease from a peak of 206 the previous year. This local trend mirrored an approximate 11% decline in traffic deaths across California statewide for the same period. For the city of Fresno specifically, there were 2,819 police-reported crashes in 2023, which equates to roughly seven to eight crashes daily. While fatal crashes get significant attention, injury collisions are far more numerous. Earlier data from 2021 indicated a total of 5,423 people were injured or killed in car accidents across Fresno County. In 2019, the OTS data showed 4,008 total reported collisions in the county, with 219 of them being fatal. A persistent concern highlighted by the OTS data is impaired driving; Fresno County consistently ranks low among similarly sized counties for alcohol-involved crashes resulting in injury or death, and has high numbers of underage drinking accidents. Additionally, vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and motorcyclists remain at high risk due to factors like wide crossings and high speeds on major corridors and state routes like Highway 99.
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