A collision Thursday night in southeast Salem left a 22-year-old man dead, according to the Salem Police Department.
Police identified the deceased driver as David J. Luna of Salem.
Emergency responders were called just before 11 p.m. Thursday to the collision at the intersection of Kuebler Boulevard and Southeast Battle Creek Road. The area is near the Morningside and South Gateway neighborhoods.
Police determined Luna was driving a Honda sedan east on Kuebler and started to turn north onto Battle Creek in front of a Mercedes sedan headed west on Kuebler. The vehicles collided, Salem police said in a statement Friday morning.
The Honda came to rest on the northwest corner of the intersection.
The second driver, Hunter D. Quinn, 20, of Salem, was taken to Salem Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Salem police said Quinn is cooperating with the investigation.
Police have not made an arrest or issued a citation.
The investigation impacted traffic along Kuebler between Battle Creek and Southeast 27th Avenue for around three hours.
“Electrical power in the area was affected due to the impact from one of the involved vehicles into utility boxes in the area. Portland General Electric continues their work today,” Salem police said, adding that customers should contact the utility for updates.
Police said temporary stop signs were controlling traffic at the intersection until electricity is restored. A PGE map showed no outages in the area Friday morning.
There are street lights in all four directions at the intersection.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
