Driver and Passenger Killed in Separate Accidents in County

Two people were killed in separate traffic accidents Friday night in Orange County.

Gary Ashby, 46, of Mission Viejo, died after his two-door sports car skidded out of control and sped off a bridge into a dry wash near Irvine at 6:05 p.m., a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said. Ashby had been southbound on Bryan Avenue near Culver Drive when he tried to pass another car. He apparently lost control of his car and crashed into several large boulders in Rattlesnake Wash, the spokeswoman said.

Ashby was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he was pronounced dead.

It was overcast at the time of the accident but was not raining, the spokeswoman said.

The second accident at 10:40 p.m. involved a motorcycle and a pickup truck on the southbound Costa Mesa Freeway near the Fairhaven Avenue overcrossing.

Police said the motorcycle was going 90 m.p.h. in the No. 2 lane when it slammed into the rear of the pickup truck. The driver of the motorcycle, Scott Shank, 27, of Yucaipa, escaped serious injury, but his passenger, a 23-year-old woman, died of head injuries, the CHP spokeswoman said. The victim was also from Yucaipa, but her name was not released pending notification of relatives. The CHP spokeswoman said Shank is under investigation for possible drunken driving.

The driver of the pickup truck was not hurt.