Canyon Road Reopens 15 Hours After Fatal Crash

Laguna Canyon Road was reopened Monday afternoon, 15 hours after three people were killed and a fourth was critically injured during a high-speed crash on the treacherous highway near Laguna Beach, authorities said Monday.

The narrow highway, scene of more than 30 traffic deaths in the last 10 years, was closed to allow police and California Highway Patrol investigators to inspect the area, 1 1/2 miles north of the El Toro Road junction, during daylight hours, Laguna Beach Police Officer Robert Van Gorder said.

CHP Officer Jim McClellan said “a thorough investigation is always required in an accident of this magnitude” and was the reason the main road linking the coastal communities to inland freeways remained closed until shortly after noon on Monday.

Killed instantly in the 9:10 p.m. crash Sunday were James G. Miceli, 29, the driver of a 1984 Nissan 300ZX sports car, and Michael J. Conway, 31, both of Olathe, Kan., and Wilfred Peloquin, 43, of Dade City, Fla.

Peloquin’s wife, Jeaneanne Peloquin, 33, a passenger in the rented 1987 Toyota Camry her husband was driving, was airlifted to Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo.

She was transferred Monday morning to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she underwent four hours of abdominal surgery and was treated for multiple fractures. She was listed in “very critical” condition Monday night, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Van Gorder said the Peloquins were vacationing in Southern California and it appeared that they were newlyweds because Mrs. Peloquin carried a recent identification listing her married name and an older identification listing her maiden name.

He added that Miceli may have moved recently to the Laguna Niguel area, although he carried a Kansas driver license with an Olathe address.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation, but Van Gorder said the crash occurred on a straight stretch of road, not on one of the many narrow curves where previous fatal accidents have taken place.

He said Miceli was driving at a high rate of speed when he lost control of the sports car and swerved sideways into oncoming traffic. Miceli’s car was hit broadside on the passenger side by the Peloquin car, which was traveling from Laguna.

“The ‘Z’ was cut in half,” the officer said.

Van Gorder said witnesses reported that Miceli was “really flying” when he lost control of the sports car, adding that it was an especially gruesome accident, even for Laguna Canyon Road.

“That’s the worst that I’ve seen. It was quite a collision. People just have to slow down. Speed is the main cause of some of these accidents,” he said.

A spokesman for the coroner’s office said the three men died of “traumatic multiple injuries.” Results of toxicological examinations, which are required on victims of traffic accidents, will not be known for several weeks, the spokesman said.

Van Gorder said he did not know if Miceli had been drinking and whether that was the reason witnesses reported him driving “erratically.”

“I can’t really say for sure. No bottles were found at the scene,” he said.

The accident was the second on the picturesque, winding road over the weekend. Early Saturday morning, four 17-year-old passengers were injured when their car was hit head-on by a car operated by a suspected drunk driver who crossed the median line. That accident occurred two miles south of Sunday night’s fatality.

Richard T. Aragon, 29, of Westminster was later arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. A passenger in his car was treated and released from Saddleback Community Hospital in Laguna Hills.

The most seriously injured of the four teen-agers, Mark Pavlinac, was listed in improved, but serious condition at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Laguna Canyon Road has been the topic of serious debate the past year between the state Coastal Commission and the California Department of Transportation. Last December, the Coastal Commission rejected a Caltrans proposal to straighten and broaden portions of the road because the plan would have cut a wide swath through the hillsides and would have ignored environmental concerns.

But the widening plan did not include the stretch of highway where Sunday night’s fatal accident occurred, a Caltrans district spokeswoman said Monday.