Wrong-Way Driver Hits Bus Carrying Marines
A Los Angeles woman was in critical condition Saturday night after she drove the wrong way on the San Diego Freeway and her car collided with a bus carrying 47 Camp Pendleton Marines.
Thelma Ivery, 40, suffered internal injuries and a broken thigh bone in the crash, just north of the Euclid Street exit in Fountain Valley.
John Bolstad, Fountain Valley fire battalion chief, said it took firefighters about 10 minutes to free her from the wreckage. They used hydraulic prying equipment to peel off the top of her car.
Bolstad said Ivery was driving south in the northbound lanes when she struck the chartered bus near the front of the driver’s side at about 2:45 p.m. The impact destroyed her car and left both vehicles disabled in the fast lane. Traffic was backed up for about an hour in both directions.
She was treated by paramedics and taken to Fountain Valley Community Hospital. The bus driver, Steve Fuller, was treated for minor injuries but not hospitalized. None of the Marines were hurt.
After about 30 minutes, a second bus arrived to pick up the Marines, who were bound for a flight to Okinawa.
It was not known how long Ivery had been driving south in the northbound lanes, Bolstad said.
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