At about 1:30 p.m., the driver's vehicle went to the right and then drove off the freeway, according to witness reports.
The car went through a narrow opening between the embankment for the Highway 132 overpass and a section of guardrail on I-580 and crashed into a tree.
The four-door Toyota sedan bounced off the tree, according to witness reports, and came to rest in a field near the freeway. The car didn’t flip, but was damaged on the driver’s side.
Rich Perugi, who lives nearby on Vernalis Road, said he heard the crash.
“I heard a big boom, like something hit something on the freeway” he said.
Following the commotion, Perugi said he looked toward the interchange and saw the Toyota, which was smoking and had its windshield smashed.
Perugi said he found the driver unconscious after hopping two barbed-wire fences with his son Robert O’Connor.
After about 10 minutes, Perugi said the driver regained consciousness, and that he and his son tried to stabilize the driver until medical professionals arrived.
The driver was trapped, as the impact forced the driver’s door against his legs. Tracy Fire Department crews freed him from the wreckage, and a helicopter landed in an adjacent field to airlift the driver to a local hospital.
The man was the only occupant of the car, and no other vehicles were involved.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
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