Collision Injures 8 on Ortega Highway; Speeding Is Blamed

Eight people were hurt--three seriously--in a three-car collision that closed the Ortega Highway, backing up traffic for two miles in each direction for nearly two hours Sunday as rescuers raced to load the injured into helicopters and ambulances and remove the wreckage, authorities said.

A 30-year-old Santa Ana man and an 18-year-old Indio man were airlifted to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where both were reported in serious but stable condition in the intensive care unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A 19-year-old Palm Desert man was taken by helicopter to Mission Community Hospital, Mission Viejo, where he was reported in serious but stable condition, with severe injuries, authorities said.

Felony Complaint

Four others--a 6-year-old girl, her 3-year-old brother and two Palm Desert men--were treated for cuts and abrasions at San Clemente General Hospital and released, a hospital spokesman said. A 48-year-old Mission Viejo man was taken by private car to Mission Community Hospital, where he was treated for minor cuts and abrasions, authorities said.

Excessive speed while passing on the winding two-lane highway and drunk driving were blamed for the 4 p.m. accident, California Highway Patrol investigator Tom Kerns said. Kerns said a felony drunk-driving complaint will be filed against driver Kent Sharp, 18, of Indio, who was being treated for a broken arm and severe lacerations to the forehead at Western Medical Center.

Ortega Highway, a 25-mile stretch of road from Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano to Lake Elsinore, has the grim distinction of being perhaps the most dangerous two-lane rural road in California. Fatalities were four times the state average in 1984, and accidents were double that of any other such rural road.

“I wish we were able to have a radar (speed control) program out there,” Kerns said Sunday. “Speed seems to be one of the major problems out there.”

Earlier this summer, signs were posted along state Route 74 urging drivers to turn on headlights during daylight hours to make them more visible. A similar campaign on Laguna Canyon Road, another narrow, winding canyon road with a grisly reputation for high-speed collisions, has helped reduce accidents, officials have said.

It was not immediately known whether the cars involved in Sunday’s accident had headlamps lighted.

The accident occurred about five miles northeast of the San Diego Freeway near Caspers Regional Park when Sharp, driving a 1978 Volkswagen Sirocco, passed two eastbound cars at speeds estimated at between 65 and 70 miles per hour, Kerns said.

When Sharp pulled back into the eastbound lane of traffic, the speeding car veered onto the right shoulder road, then careened back into oncoming traffic.

Kerns said David F. Davis, 30, of Santa Ana, swerved in his westbound International station wagon to avoid crashing but was struck near the driver’s door. The Sirocco then spun into another westbound car, a Chevrolet Blazer.

Engine Thrown 25 Feet

Observers said the force of impact threw the Sirocco’s engine 25 feet from the crash site.

Davis suffered a fractured pelvis. His daughter, Nina, and son, David, sustained only minor injuries.

Darrel Woods, 19, of Palm Desert--one of three passengers in Sharp’s Sirocco--remained in intensive care at Mission Community Hospital with severe abdominal injuries, a concussion and numerous abrasions and lacerations, Kerns said.

Passengers Thomas E. Rice, 20, and Jeffrey L. Porras, 19, both of Palm Desert, were treated at San Clemente General Hospital and released.

Ortega Highway Called Deadly

The driver of the Chevrolet Blazer, Herbert S. Blair Jr., 48, of Mission Viejo, was taken by a private car to Mission Community Hospital and later released.

Kerns said Ortega Highway is deadly because of its narrow lanes, blind curves and speed limit of 55 miles per hour.

Now a major commuter route linking southern Orange County with Riverside County, Ortega Highway carries 3,700 vehicles per day, according to the Highway Patrol.

In 1984, there were 175 major accidents resulting in 150 injuries and 12 deaths on the highway. Along the 14-mile stretch from Interstate 5 to the Orange County line, there were 87 accidents reported, with 95 people injured and four killed. There were 88 accidents along the Riverside County stretch of road with 55 injuries and eight deaths in 1984.