UPDATED: Fatal Accident On NB I-5 Near Calgrove

UPDATED: Fatal Accident On NB I-5 Near Calgrove

Written by Carol Rock

Thursday, October 01 2009

A 13-year old Oregon boy lost his life Wednesday when the van his grandfather was driving crashed into a box truck parked on the right shoulder of the road.

Shortly after 2 p.m., Phil L. Kelly, 68, of Myrtle Point, Oregon, was driving a 2005 GMC U-Haul truck, towing a loaded vehicle trailer, northbound on the I-5. In the cab with him was his grandson, Kristopher R. Kelly, 13.

California Highway Patrol Officer John Lutz said that witnesses estimate the U-Haul truck was traveling at approximately 65 to 70 MPH when it drifted on to the right shoulder, hitting the box truck and spinning it 180 degrees before coming to rest against the guard rail.

The elder Kelly was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. Kristopher Kelly, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The box truck and another vehicle had been involved in an earlier property damage collision and the drivers of those vehicles were exchanging information immediately prior to the fatal crash.

Traffic on the northbound I-5 was slowed for several hours as crews worked to clean up cargo from the trucks and attend to the victims.