Woman Killed in Crash on Laguna Canyon Road

A 39-year-old Mission Viejo woman was killed Tuesday night when her car swerved into oncoming traffic on Laguna Canyon Road, police said. Three other people were injured.

June Ruth Johnsen was pronounced dead at the scene of the 10:36 p.m. collision.

Police dispatcher Bernadette Bertsch said Johnsen was driving a white Volvo in the direction of Laguna Beach and had been seen weaving on a long straight stretch of road just before the accident.

“Witnesses related that (the) vehicle . . . had been driving erratically and drove onto the shoulder of the roadway,” Bertsch said, reading from a prepared release.

Johnsen then apparently overcompensated and swerved left into oncoming traffic and a Ford Bronco.

The driver of the Bronco, Joseph William Smith, 28, of Santa Ana, and 2-year-old Bradley Johnson of Anaheim were taken to Saddleback Memorial Medical Center and treated for facial cuts and bruises, Sgt. Ray Lardie said. The boy’s mother, Janine Johnson, 19, of Anaheim was hospitalized with a possible concussion and internal injuries, he said.

Johnsen’s death marks the first fatality this year on Laguna Canyon Road, long considered one of the most unsafe roads in the county. But the collision, unlike most others in the area, occurred on a straightaway near the center of the city, Lardie said.

“The weather was clear and there were no obstructions to her vision,” Lardie said, adding that Johnsen was estimated to have been driving about 35 m.p.h.

Driver safety on Laguna Canyon Road has long been an issue in Laguna Beach, prompting some residents to repeatedly lobby the City Council to beef up police patrols and make safety improvements, especially around the notorious “Big Bend,” where most of the accidents have occurred.

In 1988, the City Council approved a deal with the Orange County Transportation Commission that allowed $250,000 in state money to be used for improvements on Laguna Canyon Road.

City municipal services director Terry Brandt said the money has paid for signs warning motorists of the most dangerous curves. A traffic signal is being installed at Canyon Acres and Caltrans will soon begin a long-awaited resurfacing project.

Lardie said the signs seem to have helped reduce serious crashes. Last year there were 31 accidents but no fatalities. Thirty injury accidents occurred this year before Tuesday night’s collision, Lardie said.

“It’s been quiet out there the last two years,” Lardie said.

More than 30 people have been killed in the last 10 years on the road.