A driver was killed and two other people were injured Sunday morning after a car crossed into oncoming lanes on State Route 160 north of Antioch, slamming head-on into a pickup truck hauling equipment. The crash happened around 5:30 a.m. near Sherman Island Cross Road in Sacramento County, prompting a full closure of the highway at that location.
According to the KCRA, a Kia Forte was traveling northbound on SR-160 when it crossed into the southbound lanes and struck a Ford F-250 pickup truck. The California Highway Patrol's South Sacramento office said the driver of the Kia was killed in the crash, while two people riding in the truck were taken to the hospital with injuries. CHP said it is currently unknown whether drugs or alcohol were a factor, and the crash remains under investigation.
A Familiar Stretch of Road
Sunday's wreck is the latest in a long line of severe crashes clustered near Sherman Island Cross Road, a rural bend of SR-160 that has become a grim fixture in Delta traffic news. Just months earlier, in April 2026, a head-on collision between a red pickup truck and a gray sedan at nearly the same location required first responders to extricate a trapped driver; one person was airlifted from the scene, according to the Johnson Attorneys Group.
The pattern goes back further. In a head-on crash near Sherman Island, one person was killed and four others, including three young children, were hospitalized with major injuries after a southbound Mazda crossed the double yellow lines and hit a northbound Audi, as reported by ABC10, which noted police investigated alcohol as a factor in that crash. In May 2022, a 38-year-old driver who was unrestrained died and four others, including three children, were severely injured when his vehicle crossed the double yellow lines into oncoming traffic just north of the Antioch Bridge, according to East County Today, with CHP officers noting high speeds and suspected intoxication at the time.
Earlier Deadly Crashes
Other deadly crashes have occurred on SR-160. In April 2020, three people were killed and two others were injured just north of Sherman Island Cross Road when a northbound sedan lost control, crossed into oncoming lanes, and was struck on its passenger side by a pickup truck, according to CBS Sacramento — nearly identical dynamics to Sunday's crash.
The Antioch Bridge area was the scene of a fatal wrong-way crash in April 2025. The driver, fleeing law enforcement, entered the connector from Highway 4 to northbound SR-160 and collided head-on with an SUV, killing the wrong-way driver and hospitalizing three others, shutting down the connector for hours, according to CBS News.
Caltrans Efforts to Improve the Route
Caltrans has also kept up broader infrastructure work along the corridor's aging drawbridges. In June 2025, the agency completed mechanical and electrical safety upgrades to the historic SR-160 Isleton Bridge in Sacramento County, finishing four days ahead of schedule as part of wider maintenance across Delta drawbridges, according to the West Sacramento News-Ledger.
CHP has not released the identities of those involved in Sunday's crash, and the investigation into what caused the Kia Forte to cross the center line remains ongoing.
