A driver was killed Sunday morning after their car veered off eastbound Interstate 10 near Wabash Avenue in Redlands and slammed into a tree with enough force to split the trunk open. Redlands Fire, Yucaipa Fire, and CONFIRE EMS all responded to the solo-vehicle collision, but the driver could not be saved.
Private Ambulance Crew First On Scene
According to onscene.tv, a private ambulance crew arrived at the crash site before other responders and found the driver unresponsive. Crews performed life-saving measures at the scene, but the driver was pronounced dead there. The impact caused significant damage to the vehicle, which came to rest near the shattered tree alongside the freeway, the outlet reported.
The driver's identity was not available immediately, and officials did not release additional details at the scene, per the same report. The California Highway Patrol is investigating what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway, a determination that remains open as of this writing.
New Regional Ambulance System Just Days Old
The response involved CONFIRE EMS, the regional ambulance operator that took over 911 ground ambulance transportation in portions of San Bernardino County, including the vast majority of the primary service area, in partnership with Priority Ambulance on October 1, just three days before this crash, according to Victor Valley News. The system coordinates ambulance services with fire agencies.
This stretch of I-10 has seen repeated serious wrecks in recent weeks. Just three weeks earlier, on September 11, a two-truck collision split a semi-trailer against a freeway bridge support near the Alabama Street off-ramp, and an unconscious person was found at the scene who may have been ejected, as Hoodline's earlier coverage detailed.
What Investigators Will Weigh
California Vehicle Code Section 22350, the state's Basic Speed Law, prohibits driving at a speed greater than is reasonable given weather, visibility, traffic, and road conditions — regardless of the posted limit, according to Aitken Law. That standard means a driver could be found at fault for unsafe speed even well below 65 mph if conditions led to a loss of control.
Federal and state roadway design standards also come into play when a vehicle strikes a fixed object like a tree. Caltrans and Federal Highway Administration guidelines call for a traversable clear zone along freeway rights-of-way so that errant vehicles can recover or stop without colliding with fixed hazards, per the Federal Highway Administration. Large roadside trees within that recovery area carry heightened mortality risk in fixed-object impacts.
Traffic Safety Patterns
Sunday's timing also fits a broader pattern identified by researchers. A 2025 UC Berkeley SafeTREC analysis of national traffic safety data found that 36.6 percent of all fatal and serious speeding-related crashes in California happen on weekends.
The driver's identity has not been released. CHP's investigation into what pushed the vehicle off the roadway remains ongoing.
