Traffic Death, Mishaps Laid to Drunk Drivers

Drivers who overindulged at St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were blamed for a rash of traffic accidents, including one Sunday morning when one person was killed after a suspected drunk driver ran a stop light in downtown Los Angeles and his car was struck broadside by a bus, police said.

“That car looked like somebody stepped on an aluminum beer can,” Sgt. Bill Bowden said. “The bus totaled the car; almost flattened it.”

Police said the car, with three people in it, ran a red light at 2nd and Spring streets shortly after 2 a.m. A Southern California Rapid Transit District bus crashed into the car, knocking it through an iron fence and into a Los Angeles Times parking lot.

One passenger in the car was pronounced dead at the scene. Firefighters had to cut another passenger from the wreckage. Police said he was in critical condition at County-USC Medical Center.

The collision pushed the car into a Times van, and the car’s driver had to be pulled from the wreckage through the Times vehicle, said Times security officer Jerry Langdale. The driver was also being treated at the medical center, police said. His condition was not immediately available.

“The bus turned that car into an accordion,” Langdale said. “The car went from being about five feet wide to three feet wide.”

The RTD bus driver and two passengers were treated at White Memorial Medical Center for less serious injuries, police said. None of the occupants of the car or the bus were immediately identified.

“Any time you have a holiday, people tend to celebrate with alcohol,” said Sgt. Daryll Dement. “St. Patrick’s Day is an excuse to go and get ripped.”

Dement said no totals would be available before today, but Central Division traffic officers, alone, were kept busy Saturday night and Sunday morning with several accidents involving at least 15 injuries.