Rain-Related Crash Kills Girl, 16, Injures Woman
A 16-year-old girl was killed and a woman critically injured Wednesday in a rain-related accident on the San Diego Freeway in Sherman Oaks, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Officer Randy Klucker said the driver of a Volkswagen heading south near the Ventura Freeway interchange lost control in heavy rain about 1:20 a.m. and struck the center divider. Klucker said the car then rebounded across the freeway, struck a southbound tour bus, went off the road and crashed into a tree.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Dec. 23, 1988 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Friday December 23, 1988 Valley Edition Metro Part 2 Page 9 Column 1 Zones Desk 2 inches; 42 words Type of Material: Correction
The California Highway Patrol incorrectly identified a woman injured in a car accident on the San Diego Freeway in Sherman Oaks on Wednesday. The victim was Virginia Leadley, mother of the woman originally identified as injured. Leadley was in critical condition at a Northridge hospital Thursday.
The driver, Ruth Thomas, 20, of Harbor City, was critically injured and was being treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Klucker said. A passenger, Brandy Dietzel, 16, of Palmdale, was killed, he said.
Another passenger, Thomas’ 3-year-old son, D.J., was uninjured.
Klucker said the Gray Line Sightseeing Tours bus, driven by Roger Bobbitt, 34, of Inglewood had no passengers. Bobbitt was not injured. An investigation of the accident was continuing.
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