Oceanside Woman Killed in Chain-Reaction Crash

A fast-moving car attempting to avoid stopped traffic along Interstate 5 near the U.S. immigration checkpoint at San Onofre rammed into the rear of another car early Monday, triggering a chain-reaction crash that left one person dead, two injured and northbound traffic backed up for several miles, authorities said.

Harriet Jane Meyer, 22, of Oceanside died after the collision. She was on her way to work when her car was hit from behind at 6:40 a.m., authorities said.

Meyer’s vehicle was rear-ended by a sports car driven by Gregory Morgan, a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, according to Officer Allen Wilkerson, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in San Diego.

No charges had been filed late Monday. The CHP was continuing its investigation. Meyer’s and Morgan’s cars were totaled.

Wilkerson would not estimate the speed of Morgan’s car at the time of the crash but said it was traveling at a “high rate of speed.”

Morgan suffered minor injuries and was taken to Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital, authorities said.

The accident occurred about 1 mile south of the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint, which was in operation at the time, authorities said.

Meyer was declared dead at the scene at 7:31 a.m., the medical examiner’s office said.

According to the CHP account, Morgan was driving his car in the right-hand lane when he came upon stopped traffic awaiting inspection at the immigration checkpoint, which is situated along northbound I-5 north of Oceanside. Morgan’s vehicle swerved into the left lane, the CHP said, eventually crashing into the rear of the car driven by Meyer.

Meyer’s car was pushed forward into a third vehicle and stopped after colliding with the cable barrier in the center median, the CHP said.

Elizabeth Holts, 46, of Oceanside, a passenger in the third vehicle, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in San Clemente for observation with slight injuries, the CHP said.

After rear-ending Meyer’s car, Morgan’s vehicle swerved back to the right lane, where it struck a tractor-trailer before stopping.

Traffic was backed up for several miles miles along the northbound lanes of I-5, south of the checkpoint, delaying the heavy rush-hour traffic headed for Orange County.

All northbound traffic was stopped for at least 10 minutes as a Life Flight helicopter landed on the northbound lanes of the freeway.