The crashes occurred about 11:23 p.m. when the wrong-way driver was traveling south in the northbound lanes of I-680 just north of Treat Boulevard, CHP spokesman Daniel Gilmore said Saturday.
A passenger in one of the northbound vehicles was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
Four other people, including the wrong-way driver, suffered major injuries and three sustained minor injuries, Gilmore said.
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The woman driver of the wrong-way vehicle, a Dodge Charger, was taken to a local hospital and later determined to have been impaired at the time of the crash, the CHP said.
She was placed under arrest and remained at the hospital for treatment, the highway patrol said.
Charges against the wrong-way driver are still being determined, Gilmore said.
All lanes of northbound I-680 were blocked until about 3:35 a.m.