I-5 & Hood Franklin Rd. — Approximate Site of Fatal Wrong-Way Crash
A driver going the wrong way on Interstate 5 was killed early Sunday in a crash just north of Hood Franklin Road in South Sacramento, according to the California Highway Patrol. The collision happened around 3:10 a.m., and a second person involved was injured and taken to an area hospital.
The wrong-way driver was pronounced dead at the scene, as reported by KCRA. The California Highway Patrol said it did not yet know the severity of the surviving driver’s injuries. Caltrans announced the closure of the southbound lanes in the area at 4:15 a.m., and the freeway reopened before 5 a.m., KCRA reported. The station described the incident as a developing story.
A Freeway Stretch With a Recent History of Serious Crashes
The stretch of I-5 near Hood Franklin Road has seen other major incidents in recent months. A separate major-injury crash was reported on I-5 near the Manthey Road off-ramp in Lathrop on July 27, 2026, according to a post shared on Facebook. The corridor functions as the primary West Coast long-haul freight route through the region, where interchanges like Hood Franklin Road connect high-speed interstate truck traffic with agricultural and suburban traffic from Elk Grove and surrounding rural farmland, per the Road Rescue Network…