Chain-Reaction Crash on I-8 Freeway near Waring Road
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Jan. 28, 2025) — Tobin Alan Armstrong, 43, died in a chain-reaction crash involving at least three vehicles Sunday morning on the westbound Interstate 8 Freeway near San Diego State University.
The multi-vehicle traffic accident occurred amid rainy, wet road conditions around 8:35 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26th, just east of Waring Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The San Diego man was driving a Nissan and was heading westbound on the freeway when he crashed into a stalled pickup truck stopped on the left shoulder.
A good Samaritan pulled over and stopped to help Armstrong. However, as they tried to help the alert driver out of his vehicle, a second pickup truck hit the Nissan and Armstrong was thrown out of his vehicle onto the roadway, according to the San Diego Medical Examiner.
Paramedics transported Tobin Armstrong to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest, where he died shortly afterward at 10:09 a.m., the coroner said. Meanwhile, the Good Samaritan was treated at the hospital for their injuries after falling during the incident.
One of the vehicles involved was a white work pickup truck and another was the victim’s Nissan sedan that was almost completely demolished.
CHP officials reported at least three vehicles went off the freeway and into a ditch near the Waring Road exit.
Meanwhile, two other vehicles were involved in a T-bone collision in traffic lanes and one of them wound up in the ditch.
Investigators believe that the wet road conditions may have contributed to the accident.