A 16-year-old boy driving to school died Thursday in a head-on collision near Steele Canyon County Park.
Julian Fraire of El Cajon was driving a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country south on Steele Canyon Road about 7:30 a.m. when it drifted into the path of an oncoming 2008 Ford F-450 truck, California Highway Patrol public-affairs Officer Kevin Pearlstein said.
Julian, freed from the wreckage by emergency crews, died at the scene, he said.
A 36-year-old Jamul man, who was driving the truck, was taken to a hospital with what the CHP called minor injuries.
It was unclear why the Chrysler veered into the path of the pickup. Investigators planned to examine the Steele Canyon High School student’s cellphone to determine if he might have been using it behind the wheel, Pearlstein said.
The accident prompted a roughly four-hour closure of the rural road.
–City News Service
