A late-night crash on one of San Diego’s busiest freeways produced a scene so unusual that even veteran first responders were left speechless. Two vehicles ended up overturned and wedged on top of one another along northbound Interstate 5 near Balboa Avenue in the Bay Park neighborhood, leaving investigators piecing together how things went so wrong so fast. The crash occurred around 10:42 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, and while both drivers survived, the outcome could have been far worse.
Before the collision ever happened, multiple 911 callers had already flagged the situation. According to the California Highway Patrol, a female driver in a blue sedan was spotted driving recklessly in the moments leading up to the crash, and concerned motorists wasted no time alerting authorities. Those calls, as it turned out, were a preview of what was coming.
The sedan sideswiped a black SUV, sending both vehicles skidding off the freeway and ultimately landing on their sides, one on top of the other. Authorities believe the specific angle and speed of the impact contributed to the wildly unusual final position of the two vehicles. It was, by most accounts, a crash configuration that seasoned first responders had simply never seen before…