Truck Driver Killed Near Los Gatos When Flatbed Careens Off Highway 17

LOS GATOS - A truck driver was killed Wednesday when he crashed down an embankment on state Highway 17 south of Los Gatos, careening toward a creek bed before hitting a large water main, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The man was driving a Durastar flatbed truck north on Highway 17 when at about 1:30 p.m., just past the Lexington Reservoir, he left the road for unknown reasons and fell down the embankment toward Los Gatos Creek, CHP Officer Ross Lee said.

The truck stopped when it hit a water main coming from the reservoir.

Other drivers on the highway witnessed the crash and stopped to help. But when emergency responders arrived, the man was going in and out of consciousness and died at the scene, Lee said.

Investigators are still trying to figure out why the truck left the road and are looking into the possibility that the driver wasn't wearing a seat belt.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash and no one else was injured.

-By Bay City News Service, image via ShutterStock