Dana Point : Driver Without Brakes Got One Break: He Lived
Seconds before Michael Steven LaBounty and his dump truck zoomed off the 200-foot cliff, he screamed out the window, “I ain’t got no brakes!” the California Highway Patrol reported.
The 20-year-old Huntington Beach man was listed Friday in fair condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.
According to the CHP, LaBounty was westbound Thursday afternoon on Beacon Hill Way going downhill with a load of dirt in the truck when his brakes failed. As he barreled down the hill at almost 70 m.p.h., he yelled out of the cab to a telephone crew along the road.
The truck raced through the Niguel Road intersection, over an embankment and then off the cliff, the CHP said. LaBounty, who was thrown from the cab on impact, was airlifted by an Orange County Fire Department helicopter to the hospital, the CHP said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
