Marijuana To Blame for Hwy. 129 Fatality, Others

Marijuana use contributed to , the California Highway Patrol reported Tuesday.

Courtney Manning's death was one of three marijuana-related DUI fatalities in the Santa Cruz County this year, according to the CHP.

“These collisions are particularly tragic," Capt. Matt Olson, commander of the Santa Cruz CHP office, said in a prepared statement. "They each cut short the lives of young people with so much ahead of them and left behind devastated families. "

Manning, 23, was heading east from Watsonville toward Highway 101 when her red Dodge Neon drifted into oncoming traffic, clipped another car, spun around and was hit by a dump truck loaded with gravel, according to authorities.

Manning was from Ceres, a Central Valley town south of Modesto, and had recently moved to Watsonville when she was killed.

Tuesday, the CHP reported Manning was under the influence of marijuana at the time.

Two other people were killed in marijuana-related crashes in the county this year:

• early on March 19 when his vehicle left a Highway 1 on-ramp in Aptos and crashed into a tree.
• March 14 when his truck ran off the edge of Graham Hill Road near Scotts Valley and struck a tree.

Both men had alcohol and marijuana in their systems, the CHP reported Tuesday.

There were no DUI-related fatalities in the county last year, but in 2010, four of seven fatal collisions the CHP investigated on Santa Cruz County roads and highways were under the influence of marijuana, authorities reported.

"Sadly, these collisions were completely avoidable," Olson said. "Our hearts go out to their families and we are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening to others.”