Second Wrong-Way Incident Was Killer : Elderly Motorist Who Caused Fatal Crash Cited the Previous Day

An 84-year-old man who caused a fatal head-on collision last week by driving the wrong way on the San Bernardino Freeway had been cited the day before for driving the wrong way on the same freeway, the California Highway Patrol said Monday.

The elderly driver, John Arnold of Hesperia, died shortly after the crash Thursday night.

Holly Bregman, 16, of Northridge, who suffered multiple fractures and head injuries in the accident, was pronounced brain dead Monday, her father, Joe Bregman said. Two other teen-agers in the Bregman car suffered injuries.

Ms. Bregman’s compact car was struck by Arnold’s station wagon, which was moving east in the westbound fast lane of the San Bernardino Freeway in Ontario, the CHP said.

The day before the crash, a CHP officer had sought to have Arnold’s driver’s license revoked after he found him driving west in the eastbound fast lane of the same freeway in East Los Angeles, Officer Wes Taylor of the CHP’s Ontario station said Monday.

State Department of Motor Vehicle officials also said Monday that Arnold’s competency to drive was challenged two years ago. His license was not revoked, however, because he passed the required tests, officials said.

Arnold came to the attention of CHP officers shortly after midnight Wednesday when he flagged down a patrol car and asked for directions to Victorville. Arnold, who was driving west on the San Bernardino Freeway near Soto Street, told officers he had gotten lost on his way home from a veterans hospital. He was directed to the eastbound lanes of the freeway, Taylor said.

About 15 minutes later, another CHP officer saw Arnold driving west in the eastbound fast lane of the freeway near the Eastern Avenue exit, Taylor said. Arnold appeared to be confused and disoriented and apparently was suffering from hearing and visual problems, the officer said.

“At that time, it was decided that Arnold was not capable of driving,” Taylor read from the CHP report of the incident. He was cited for driving the wrong way on the freeway. His car was impounded and he was driven to his desert home by CHP officers. A CHP officer filled out a petition requesting that the DMV review Arnold’s license for possible revocation, Taylor said. It generally takes at least three weeks to revoke a driver’s license, Erwin Cooper, a spokesman with the DMV, said in Sacramento.

Arnold picked his car up at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Taylor said.

Jim Dunn, manager of the DMV’s San Joaquin Valley region, said the request to reexamine Arnold’s fitness to drive was made in September, 1982, because of “some type of physical condition.” Arnold met with a DMV analyst in the San Bernardino area but no action was taken because he passed the tests, Dunn said.

Dunn said that under state law, he was unable to provide any details on why the reexamination was requested.

Two months earlier, in July, 1982, Arnold had been cited for running a traffic signal, straddling two lanes and failing to obey signs. He was sentenced to an undisclosed amount of jail time, Dunn said.

Arnold’s DMV record also shows one conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol stemming from a February, 1978, accident. Arnold’s license was suspended for six months after he refused to submit to a blood, breath or urine test, Dunn said. Arnold received an undisclosed fine and probation.

Michael Allred, a neighbor of Arnold, said the elderly man had been disconsolate over the recent death of his girlfriend.

“He was just really broken up,” Allred said. “He hasn’t been the same since.”

He described Arnold as a retired movie projectionist with a “good heart.”

Joe Bregman said Monday that a respirator keeping his daughter alive at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland was to be disconnected as soon as a team of UCLA specialists arrived to remove her eyes and kidneys for possible transplant.