Driver Dies When Car Veers Off US 101 Near Kaiser Parking Lot

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Investigators with the California Highway Patrol were still working Monday to determine what may have caused a driver to travel off U.S. Highway 101 and through a fence before his car caught fire and came to rest near a Santa Rosa-area Kaiser Permanente parking lot.

The fatal solo-vehicle crash was reported at 5:11 p.m. Sunday on U.S. 101, north of Mendocino Avenue. The man was driving a gold-colored Hyundai Sonata sedan northbound when his Sonata went off the freeway toward the right shoulder and crashed through a chain-link fence, then came to rest in a ditch between the freeway and the Kaiser parking lot.

The driver — identified by the Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner's Office as Michael Sherman, 73, of Los Angeles — was unresponsive and trapped in his car when the first CHP officer arrived on scene, so the broke out the right front window in an effort to help the man.

Emergency medical personnel then arrived and took Sherman to Kaiser where unfortunately, he was pronounced dead.

"It is unknown at this time whether DUI was a factor or if the driver experienced a medical emergency prior to the crash," CHP officials said. "Anyone with information regarding this crash are asked to call the Santa Rosa CHP office at 707-588-1400."

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.