A local 19-year-old died Saturday morning after his Honda Accord apparently struck the center median of Hwy. 101, careened to the right and collided with a tree just south of Tompkins Hill Road, near the Eureka campus of College of the Redwoods.

The California Highway Patrol received a call about the incident at 7:53 a.m. Saturday, according to Sgt. Gabriel Parker. The incident was first reported by the Outpost’s automated CHP Watch. 

“Our unit arrived on the scene. It was a solo vehicle with a solo occupant, and there were no witnesses,” Parker said.

The driver’s identity has yet to be released by law enforcement, but a friend of the family set up a GoFundMe page over the weekend identifying the driver as Kalvin Reed. As of Monday afternoon, the campaign had already reached and exceeded its $10,000 goal, which is intended to “help ease the burden of the cost of memorial services,” the post says.

According to Parker, Reed was driving northbound on Hwy. 101, and evidence on the scene suggests that his vehicle hit the center dividing wall, causing it to rebound to the right and off the roadway, where it struck a tree “head-on.”

The California Highway Patrol is still investigating the incident, Parker said.