Costa Mesa : Driver Killed When Car Rear-Ends Parked Van

A 25-year-old man was killed almost instantly early Sunday after his car rear-ended a van parked on the shoulder of the northbound San Diego Freeway, authorities said.

The van was then struck by another motorist, who suffered minor injuries, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The name of the fatally injured driver from Santa Ana, who was traveling in a 1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, was not released pending notification of relatives, CHP Officer Jose Lopez said.

The crash occurred at 4:26 a.m. south of the Fairview Street freeway off-ramp. The Monte Carlo was traveling north when it moved onto the freeway shoulder, striking the rear of a parked 1979 Dodge van that apparently had been abandoned, Lopez said.

The impact pushed the van into freeway traffic lanes, where it was struck by Kathleen A. Meehan, a 26-year-old Huntington Beach woman driving a compact car, Lopez said. It was not clear, he said, whether seconds or minutes passed before the second collision.

Meehan escaped with what Lopez described as minor injuries and was listed in fair condition Sunday afternoon at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital.

It was not immediately known who owned the parked van, Lopez said.