Driver injured in Rancho Santa Fe crash dies at hospital
A 21-year-old man who was driving a sports car that struck an SUV head-on in Rancho Santa Fe on Christmas Eve later died at a hospital, the Medical Examiner’s Office said.
He was identified by the Medical Examiner’s Office as Barry Alexander Moores of Rancho Santa Fe.
Moores had been critically injured when the car he was driving, a rare Ariel Atom, went out of control on a curve on La Orilla shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday, California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said. His passenger, a 21-year-old Mira Mesa man, was flown to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido with major injuries, the officer said.
Moores was transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where he was pronounced dead at 3:58 p.m. on Christmas Day, the Medical Examiner’s Office said.
The sports car struck a Ford Expedition driven by a 62-year-old San Diego man, Bettencourt said. The driver and a female passenger were transported to the La Jolla hospital with minor to moderate injuries, the officer said. A fire in the SUV’s engine was quickly extinguished, said Julie Taber, spokeswoman for the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District.
The SUV’s occupants appeared to be on their way to a Christmas Eve function at the time, CHP Officer Chris Parent said.
The high-performance Ariel Atom, considered one of the fastest street-legal cars in the world, was westbound on La Orilla, near El Camino Real, at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control on the winding two-lane road, spun into the eastbound lane and hit the SUV, Parent said. Both the driver and passenger were wearing helmets, he said.
Parent said earlier that the crash remains under investigation, and it was not yet determined how fast the driver was going. The posted speed limit is 40 mph, he said.
Bettencourt said it was not yet determined if either drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
The Ariel Atom has a tubular skeleton with no side panels or roof. It is used to race in Autocrosses, including a RaceAtom series based in Virginia.
