A Sonoma man was killed in a bizarre traffic accident Thursday when exiting his moving vehicle after a collision on Hickory Street.
Jorge Bacab-Cab, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene, crushed by his own car.
According to the California Highway Patrol report, Bacab-Cab was driving a 2007 Toyota northbound on Hickory Street, near Arbor Avenue, at about 6 p.m. The car was traveling at 25 miles an hour when Bacab-Cab lost control and collided with a Plymouth van parked on the right shoulder.
The Toyota came to rest with its right-side tires off the ground, up on the side of the van. Bacab-Cab put his car in reverse and at the same time opened the driver’s door. He then exited the vehicle, the CHP report said, and became lodged underneath the Toyota.
As the vehicles disengaged, Bacab-Cab was crushed by the undercarriage of his own car.
“It appears he was trying to back off the parked car,” said CHP spokesperson Jaret Paulsen. “Why he opened the door, we don’t know.”
There were two passengers in the Toyota and neither was injured. The van was unoccupied.
The collision remains under investigation. It is undetermined if alcohol is a factor, the initial report said.
Bacab-Cab became the sixth person to die on Sonoma County roads since Tuesday.
