Girl, 16, Dies : Wrong-Way Driver was Cited 1 Day Before Crash

An 84-year-old man who caused a fatal collision 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, California Highway Patrol officers said Monday.

The man, John Arnold, of Hesperia, died in the accident. On Monday the driver of the car he struck, Holly Bregman, 16, of Northridge, was pronounced brain dead at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland, her father, Joe Bregman, said.

The respirator keeping the teen-ager alive was to be disconnected as soon as a team of UCLA specialists arrived to remove her eyes and kidneys, according to her father. The family has arranged to donate the organs for possible transplant, he said.

Ms. Bregman was fatally injured when her compact car was struck by a station wagon traveling east in the westbound fast lane of the freeway in Ontario, authorities said. Two other teen-agers in the Bregman car were injured.

Incident of Day Before

A day before the fatal crash, a CHP officer has sought to have Arnold’s driver’s license revoked after he found him driving westbound in the eastbound fast lane of the San Bernardino Freeway in East Los Angeles, said officer West Taylor of the CHP’s Ontario station.

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

Arnold came to the attention of CHP officers shortly after midnight Wednesday when he apparently flagged down a patrol car and asked for directions to Victorville. Arnold, who was westbound on the westbound San Bernardino Freeway east of the Soto Street exit, told officers he had gotten lost on his way home from Loma Linda Veterans Hospital. He was directed to the eastbound lanes of the freeway, Taylor said.

About 15 minutes later, another CHP officer saw Arnold driving westbound in the eastbound fast lane of the freeway just west of the Eastern Avenue exit, Taylor said.

Arnold appeared to be confused and disoriented and apparently was suffering from hearing and visual problems, Taylor said.

“At that time, it was decided that Arnold was not capable of driving,” Taylor quoted the CHP report of the incident as saying. He was cited for driving the wrong way on the freeway. His car was impounded and he was taken to his Hesperia home by CHP officers.

License Review Requested

A CHP officer filled out a petition requesting that the Department of Motor Vehicles review Arnold’s license for possible revocation, Taylor said.

However, it generally takes at least three weeks to revoke a driver’s license, said Erwin Cooper, a spokesman with the Department of Motor Vehicles 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 man had been disconsolate over the recent death of his live-in girlfriend.

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