Salem man dies after driving off the road and into a tree

A man was killed early Sunday after driving off Gaffin Road SE and striking a tree in southeast Salem, authorities said.

Police officers and medics responded to the single-vehicle crash around 6 a.m. in the 5700 block of Gaffin Road SE, according to a release from the Salem Police Department.

Salomon Leyva-Ramirez, 23, of Salem, was driving east on Gaffin Road in a mid-sized SUV when he went failed to "negotiate a slight bend" in the road and struck a tree, police said.

Leyva-Ramirez died at the scene.

Police are investigating why Leyva-Ramirez was unable to negotiate the bend, said Lt. Debbie Aguilar, a spokesperson for the department.

'Chain-reaction' crash: 6-year-old suffers life-threatening injury in 6-vehicle pile-up in Salem

Salem Police's traffic crash unit has responded to 27 serious injury collisions this year, including crashes that resulted in fatalities or life-threatening injuries, Aguilar said.

Fourteen of the crashes resulted in fatalities; six of the 27 were single-vehicle crashes where speed or alcohol played a factor.

Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at 503-399-6657 or at vbarreda@statesmanjournal.com Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Man dies after driving off road, striking tree in southeast Salem