CHP: Rain to blame for fatal I-10 crash

A 33-year-old man was killed today in a single-vehicle crash that occurred on the rain-soaked eastbound 10 Freeway in Cabazon.

Luis Ochoa Ruiz, a Rialto resident, crashed just before 7 a.m. while driving a Nissan Sentra west of the Desert Hills Inspection Facility, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Darren Meyer.

Meyer said Ruiz was traveling at about 70 mph and was trying to pass another vehicle by moving from the left lane to the right lane, but he lost control of his car on the wet roadway.

The car “went over the south embankment where it collided with a tree,” according to Meyer. Ruiz was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meyer noted that Ruiz was driving significantly faster than other traffic, which was moving at 55 mph or less due to the rain.

No one else was in the vehicle, according to the fire department. Alcohol and drugs were not immediately ruled out as factors in the fatal crash