San Diego Freeway Commuters Delayed by 2 Morning Accidents

Commuter traffic on the San Diego Freeway was snarled by two separate accidents Wednesday morning, the California Highway Patrol said.

Northbound drivers were delayed after an unlicensed driver peeked under the dashboard to get a look at some dripping liquid and proceeded to drive into the center divider, the CHP said.

After the Datsun driven by Clemmie L. Williams, 19, hit the divider, said CHP Officer Paul Caldwell, it bounced off and crossed into the No. 3 lane, where it collided with a van driven by Franklin Barnes, 50, of Orange. Barnes’ van overturned and blocked the No. 3 lane until it was towed away, Caldwell said.

Traffic near the Harbor Boulevard exit was slowed for about 45 minutes after the 7:55 a.m. accident. Neither Williams nor Barnes was injured, the CHP said, but Williams was cited for being an unlicensed driver.

The second accident took place about 9 a.m. further south on the freeway, north of Avery Parkway in Mission Viejo.

The CHP said that a southbound Toyota hit another vehicle and that the end result was three cars and a school bus damaged and two people injured.

It was not clear whether the injured motorists, identified as Romualdo Perez, 53, of Santa Ana, and Donna Carmichael, 24, of San Clemente, were hospitalized, said spokesman Ken Daily of the CHP’s San Juan Capistrano office. The 1971 Toyota Corolla, which was impounded, is registered to Donna Victor, who lives in Northern California, Daily said.

CHP officers said they wanted to talk to the Toyota driver, who apparently left the scene before they arrived.