LA CONCHITA : Driver Dies After Truck Veers, Crashes
A truck driver hauling a load of Amway products on the Ventura Freeway died Monday after his truck veered across four lanes of traffic and overturned, authorities said.
Edmund Hoover, 54, of Cypress was pronounced dead at the scene of the 10 a.m. crash near Padre Juan Canyon, Deputy Ventura County Coroner Mitch Breese said.
Jim Utter, a California Highway Patrol spokesman, said Hoover was driving north when his 24-foot truck veered across the left lane, a dirt divider and three southbound lanes before smashing through a chain-link fence and overturning.
“We were fortunate that he went across the southbound lanes without hitting anyone,” Utter said.
An autopsy Monday showed that Hoover was asphyxiated when the truck rolled over onto him, said Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens.
Hoover was a longtime trucker who had been driving for Cal Distributor Services Inc. in Los Angeles since 1987, said Warren Williams, the company’s executive vice president.
A physical examination Hoover underwent in April as required by the U.S. Department of Transportation gave no indication of any medical problems making him unfit to drive, Williams said.
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