June Ends with Deadly Collisions Throughout Los Angeles
Several serious and even fatal car accidents plagued Los Angeles in the last week of June. On June 23rd, at least three vehicles were involved in a collision which closed down the westbound 91 freeway in Carson. At least one individual was ejected from a vehicle, and there were reports of two more occupants who were trapped. One car was reportedly on fire.
An accident the next day left two dead and two more seriously injured when a car rolled over in Sylmar, possibly after hitting a light pole. Also on that same day, two teens were killed and three others injured when a dump truck traveling south on I-15 crashed into a PT Cruiser heading west on the 138 in Cajon Pass. The dump truck, which may have been overloaded with wet cement, was exiting the 15 when it apparently suffered a brake failure on the off-ramp of the 138 exit and crashed into the PT Cruiser, rolling the smaller vehicle down an embankment before landing on top of it. Investigators will want to know whether the truck, and especially its brakes, had been recently inspected or provided with maintenance. The dump truck driver, operating as a subcontractor for Caltrans, was not injured.
A similar incident occurred earlier in the month in La Verne, when a cement dump truck traveling eastbound on the 210 Foothill Freeway struck a sedan parked on the shoulder. The sedan was shoved into the middle of the freeway, and the dump truck struck the center divider. The driver of the sedan was pronounced dead at the scene and a passenger was transported to the hospital, while the driver of the truck was apparently uninjured.
Hopefully, this spate of crashes can serve as a wakeup call to motorists to drive with care as they enter the upcoming July Fourth weekend, which is typically the deadliest holiday of the year for traffic accidents, many of which tend to be alcohol-related.
