SITE OF FATAL CRASH—Flowers and a U.S. flag sit on the northbound ramp to the 101 Freeway from Lindero Canyon Road. It’s believed to be in honor of Steven Seery, a 20-year-old Thousand Oaks resident and Westlake High School graduate, who was recently killed in a single car crash. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers A young Thousand Oaks man died after he lost control of his car and broadsided a tree in a single-car accident last week.

On July 5, Steven Seery, 20, had left a party in Oak Park when he drove from Lindero Canyon Road onto the newly constructed northbound onramp of the 101 Freeway.

His 2006 Honda Civic left skid marks on the ramp’s curve, said California Highway Patrol officer Thomas Bomar.

Steven’s mother, Holly Seery of Thousand Oaks, said his friends told her he’d left the party at 2 a.m. He wasn’t found in his crashed car until 3:13 a.m.

“All of his friends told me he left the party in good spirits,” Holly Seery said. “He does not drink. Everyone knows he doesn’t drink. They said he was happy and sober.”

Law enforcement is still investigating the accident and so far has no answers as to the cause of the fatal crash, Bomar said.

“It is unknown as to why he lost control. It could have been mechanical, speed, driver error, intoxication—we don’t know,” Bomar said.

It could also have been unfamiliarity with the new ramp, he said.

There were skid marks at the top of the ramp. Then the car slid into the dirt and hit a tree between the freeway and the onramp.

Holly Seery said the new ramp didn’t have reflectors on the pavement, so at night drivers wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the pavement and the shoulder.

“I want answers,” she said. It will take time to get them, Bomar said.

“He was a very bright kid. Steven was highly gifted,” Seery said.

The young man played football his senior year at Westlake High School and graduated in 2007. After that he studied finance at Moorpark College, where he was on the dean’s list.

“He was to go to USC in the fall as an economics major,” his mother said.

“He had a goofy, great sense of humor and lots and lots of friends. He was a good influence on his friends. He encouraged them to get an education,” she said.

She and Steven’s father, Gregory Seery, are divorced. He lives in Nebraska, she said.

Steven Seery is also survived by his brother, David, 23, and sister, Jennifer, 22, his grandparents, Ted and Miriam Fleser of Woodland Hills, and his grandfather. Major Seery of Colorado. He also has aunts, uncles and cousins.

“He was very close to his cousins,” Holly Seery said.

Steven Seery’s family gathered with others who loved him for his memorial service in Simi Valley on July 11.