2 Killed, 1 Injured in Laguna Canyon Head-on Collision

Two people were killed and a third critically injured early Saturday in a head-on collision on Laguna Canyon Road, a narrow, winding thoroughfare that has claimed at least 30 lives in the past decade.

Laguna Beach police said a 1980 Toyota Celica driven by Joann Covey, 23, of Laguna Niguel was traveling toward Laguna Beach at 2:45 a.m. and crossed into the oncoming lane, colliding with a 1967 BMW sedan. Covey and her passenger, Mark Corsetti, 27, of South Laguna, died instantly.

The driver of the BMW, Harry Stone, 32, of Garden Grove, was able to get out of his car. But he collapsed on the road and was struck by a small hatchback-style vehicle driving north, away from Laguna Beach, police spokesperson Carol Fleischer said.

Police Seeking Driver

The driver of the hatchback drove off and is being sought by police on suspicion of hit-and-run, she said.

A fourth car, driven by Harvey Thompson, 65, of Laguna Hills, also traveling away from Laguna Beach, then hit the BMW. But that impact caused only minor damage and Thompson was not injured, Fleischer said.

Stone was airlifted to Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo, where he underwent surgery Saturday afternoon. He was listed in critical condition with multiple injuries late Saturday.

Fleischer said the accidents occurred in the 1200 block, at “Big Bend,” where the winding road makes a large S-curve. It is one of the most dangerous sections, having been the scene of several other fatal accidents.

Police closed the road at the site to all traffic for more than nine hours to remove the wreckage and complete the investigation. A report on the accident will be released after autopsies are conducted, police said.

In the past, anonymous persons have placed white wooden crosses at the sites of other traffic fatalities in the area, but none was seen in the area Saturday. The crosses have been a source of controversy in the past, with some local residents calling the practice macabre.

“Who’s to say whether it does any good or not,” said Officer Lance Ishmael, of the crosses. “Maybe it makes people think.”

Ishmael, who said he has been driving Laguna Canyon Road for 17 years, said the thoroughfare is not the problem.

“If you drive that road at a reasonable speed it is not unsafe,” the officer said. “The real problems are unreasonable speed and alcohol. Whenever you put those two together, you’re going to have problems.”

Amber Cottle, who works at Victoria Skimboard, which is situated on Laguna Canyon Road on the Big Bend, agreed. “Several times a day we hear the screeching of wheels as people coming from the canyon come into this turn still going over 60 m.p.h.,” she said.

But John Ellis thinks the area is jinxed because it is a former Indian burial ground. Ellis, of J.I.P. Manufacturing, which is also situated along the Big Bend, said, “I’ve had three people I know personally die on this turn in the last seven years. I don’t like working out here.”

Caltrans plans to straighten Laguna Canyon Road in the Big Bend area, widening it from two lanes to four lanes between El Toro Road and Laguna Acres Drive, and to separate traffic with a median strip.

Environmental Report Due

According to Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth Frank, the state has completed a rough draft of the required environmental impact study and expects to release it in the next several months.

The city, Frank said, will not oppose the plan, but will request some modification, including laying utility lines underground and landscaping the median. Because of the “massive, giant cut involved,” Frank said, the city “will express some concern” during the public review process, although it won’t seek to delay construction, which should begin in the next two to three years.

Frank echoed the statements by police and those who live along the stretch of highway.

“You could drive 50 to 55 m.p.h. along the road if you were sober and alert,” he said. “The problem is drunk drivers.”

Laguna Beach Mayor Dan Kenney said that “undoubtedly the widening will help” in cutting down on fatalities, despite the fact that the road “is not that much different from lots of other roads.”