Woman, 24, dies in head-on crash on state Route 78

VISTA (CNS) - A suspected DUI crash that fatally injured a 24-year-old woman on a northern San Diego-area freeway over the weekend was under investigation Monday, Jan. 4.

The deadly accident occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m. Sunday, when a 2009 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck traveling east on the westbound side of state Route 78 collided head-on with a Toyota Matrix hatchback near Sycamore Avenue in Vista, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The wreck left both motorists severely injured, the CHP reported. Medics took them to a hospital, where the Vista woman who had been driving the Matrix was pronounced dead. Her name was withheld pending family notification.

Investigators suspect the other driver, a 36-year-old Carlsbad man, was intoxicated at the time of the crash. His identity was not immediately available.