A man traveling the wrong way on State Route 52 tried to stop before driving off the road and into a canyon to his death, San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies said.
A department investigation found that the driver tried to stop, leaving a long skid mark before plunging off the highway.
Just after midnight, authorities learned of a black Mercedes Benz C230 driving east in the westbound lanes of SR-52 between Mast Boulevard and Santos Road.
California Highway Patrol officers and firefighters responded to the scene but could not locate the Mercedes.
With the help of a San Diego police helicopter, authorities found the car about an hour later in the canyon about 200 feet below a bridge.
An investigation of the road shows the driver, a 66-year-old San Diego man, was driving on the shoulder when he went over the edge of the median about a mile west of Mast Boulevard.
A 100-foot skid mark leading up to the edge shows the man hit the brakes just before the fall, police said.
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Firefighters and the medical examiner have retrieved the driver's body.
Authorities have not released any information on the cause of the crash.