Laguna Beach : One Killed, One Hurt Badly as Car Hits Pole

A 35-year-old woman was killed and her companion critically injured on Coast Highway just north of Laguna Beach on Sunday when the high-performance car in which they were riding struck a power pole, California Highway Patrol officers said.

The woman, a passenger in the Porsche automobile whose name was not immediately available, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 6:26 p.m. accident.

The male driver of the vehicle, whose name authorities did not know, was airlifted to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. He was in critical condition with multiple injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The accident knocked live power lines down across the north lanes of the highway, prompting the CHP to divert northbound traffic through the southbound lanes. A massive traffic tie-up was reported as Southern California Edison work crews rushed to the scene and emergency crews worked to clear the wreckage hours later.

Power was also knocked out in the El Morro Cove trailer park, situated at the bottom of the hill where the accident occurred. Crews were working to restore power late Sunday night.

CHP Officer Debra Montijo said witnesses reported that the accident happened as the red Porsche--traveling north on a downhill stretch of the highway just north of the Laguna Beach city limits--accelerated rapidly from a speed of about 60 m.p.h. The car swerved out of control for an unknown reason and crashed into the power pole, flipping upside down, Montijo said.

The stretch of highway is known among local law enforcement officials for its high number of serious traffic mishaps. Last April, a flaming, head-on collision in the same area killed a teen-age girl and injured three others.