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# Berkeley freeway collision leaves 1 dead, slows AM traffic
- URL: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2024/08/01/traffic-safety/berkeley-freeway-collision-1-dead/
- Published: 2024-08-01T11:29:59.000Z
- Updated: 2024-08-01T21:35:32.000Z
- Description: The coroner's office has identified the man who died as Charles Nelson, 82, El Cerrito.
- Author: Emilie Raguso
- Tags: Traffic safety, West Berkeley, Northwest Berkeley, BPD, Breaking news, #articles, #coroner, Traffic deaths

A person was killed overnight Thursday in Berkeley in a freeway collision on westbound I-80, authorities report.

Details were scant as of publication time.

[Berkeley police](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/berkeley-police-department/) and firefighters, as well as the California Highway Patrol, were dispatched just after 3:40 a.m. on a report of a driver who had struck a pedestrian between University and Ashby avenues on westbound Interstate 80\. 

The driver of a semi-truck called police to say he believed he had hit someone, according to emergency dispatches reviewed by The Scanner.

The person who was killed appeared to have been a driver who had pulled over, possibly to flag down help, authorities said.

Police shut down part of the freeway, including access from University Avenue, during the emergency response. 

### Freeway traffic slow after fatal Berkeley crash

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2024/08/Screenshot-2024-08-01-at-4.32.37-AM.jpg)

As of 4:30 a.m., authorities said drivers should expect delays of up to 10 minutes. [**Sig Alert*](https://www.sigalert.com/map.asp?lat=37.83858&lon=-122.31202&z=0&ref=berkeleyscanner.com)

Berkeley police were clearing the scene and the coroner's office had been alerted to the fatality as of about 4 a.m.

Authorities also [issued a Sig Alert](https://www.sigalert.com/map.asp?lat=37.84573&lon=-122.31202&z=0&ref=berkeleyscanner.com) advising motorists to expect delays because the two right-most lanes of I-80 West were blocked. 

As of about 4:40 a.m., freeway traffic was moving at about 10-15 mph, according to the Sig Alert website.

The Scanner has asked the CHP for details and will update this story if they are provided.

**Update, 2:35 p.m.** The coroner's office has identified the man who died as Charles Nelson, 82, El Cerrito.

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