An 18-year-old driver crossed into oncoming traffic on Highway 108 near Sonora, sending another vehicle into a concrete wall and flipping it onto its roof. The crash shut down the highway near the Lower Mono Way turnoff for hours and left both drivers with minor injuries.
According to the California Highway Patrol's investigation, the collision happened when an eastbound Ford F-350 pickup driven by Angel Dominguez, 18, of Sanger, drifted into the opposing lane and struck an oncoming Subaru Forester driven by Lyda Paul, 55, of Modesto, as reported by myMotherLode.com. The crash was first reported around 9:50 a.m., according to slavicsac.com, which noted the vehicle was located on Highway 108 near the Lower Mono Way turnoff and had rolled over multiple times before coming to rest on its roof.
The CHP investigation found that Paul attempted to swerve out of the way of the drifting pickup, but her Subaru was pushed into a concrete wall before overturning onto its roof, the outlet's report states. Firefighters and paramedics rushed to help at the scene, and an ambulance was requested, per the seed report. Both Dominguez and Paul survived with minor injuries and were transported to Adventist Health Sonora, a 72-bed acute care hospital on Greenley Road that serves as Tuolumne County's central trauma facility, according to the California Department of Health Care Access and Information.
Investigators Rule Out Impairment as Cleanup Closes the Highway
Investigating officers confirmed that alcohol and drugs were not suspected factors in the crash, the report notes. Oil and other vehicle fluids spilled onto Highway 108 during the collision, prompting Caltrans to dispatch a sand truck to the scene. Caltrans routinely sends sand trucks to highway crashes to spread sand over spilled fluids, absorbing combustible liquids and restoring pavement traction before lanes can reopen, according to guidance from the Federal Highway Administration.
The roadway was fully closed while crews worked, and traffic was diverted onto Mono Way, according to the seed report. Motorists were urged to avoid the area until the highway reopened. Police officers questioned people involved in the collision as part of the investigation.
A Corridor With a Recent Deadly History
The CHP's Sonora Area Office, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in neighboring Jamestown, holds primary jurisdiction over state routes in Tuolumne County and led the investigation into the crash, per the California Highway Patrol. Highway 108 functions as a primary east-west route through Tuolumne County, carrying heavy local and commuter traffic between foothill communities like Jamestown and commercial hubs along Mono Way, which explains why a full closure near the interchange hits regional travel so hard.
This stretch of highway near Sanguinetti Road and Lower Mono Way has seen serious crashes before. Just five weeks earlier, on July 30, a 39-year-old Jamestown man, Michael Albert Barreno, was killed in a two-vehicle head-on crash on Highway 108 near the same interchange behind the Crossroads Shopping Center, according to The Legal Advocate.
Possible Citations Under State Lane Law
California drivers are legally required under Vehicle Code Section 21658 to operate their vehicles as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and cannot drift into opposing traffic lanes without reasonable safety, according to legal background compiled by a firm covering the statute. It remains unclear whether CHP will issue a citation to Dominguez under that provision, and the agency has not released further details on potential charges or the extent of either driver's injuries. Major rollover crashes on Highway 108 typically draw a coordinated response from CHP, the CAL FIRE Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit, Sonora City Fire, and local emergency medical services, reflecting the multi-agency structure regularly deployed for serious highway incidents in the county.
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