Wrong-Way Driver Dies in Head-On Freeway Crash
A man who drove the wrong way for at least four miles on the Golden State Freeway was killed Thursday when he collided head-on with another car on the freeway in Pacoima, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Investigators identified the driver as Winfred McCollum, 86, of Altadena, who was killed in the 2 p.m. accident just north of the Van Nuys Boulevard exit, CHP Officer Tami Low said. The driver of the other car, Eric Deshon, 24, of Canyon Country, suffered major injuries and was being treated at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.
McCollum was going south at about 55 m.p.h. in a non-traffic buffer lane on the northbound side of the freeway’s concrete center divider, Low said. He was first reported near Roxford Street in Sylmar, about four miles from where the fatal crash took place.
A Los Angeles police officer driving south spotted the wrong-way car on the other side of the center divider but was unable to stop the car. He told CHP investigators that the driver appeared to be confused.
Low said investigators believe that McCollum saw a break in the oncoming traffic and attempted to veer across the freeway to the Van Nuys Boulevard exit but hit Deshon’s car head-on.
The accident closed two southbound lanes for 90 minutes and caused traffic to back up through the northeastern San Fernando Valley, Low said.
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