Driver Badly Injured in Accident

A Murietta man was seriously injured this morning when he lost control of his car on a hilly portion of Ortega Highway and careened off the roadway down a steep embankment.

Paul Meyer, 56, was flown by helicopter to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center where he was listed in guarded and serious condition. He suffered a punctured lung and concussion, said hospital spokeswoman Jan Walker.

Meyer was traveling westbound about 7 a.m. when he swerved on wet pavement and bounced about 100 feet down the hillside, said Jerry Brookshire, 33, of Laguna Hills, a motorist who saw the accident out of his rear view mirror. Brookshire flagged down another motorist and then hiked down the hillside and found Meyer upside down in his car.

The accident occurred about 14 miles from Interstate 5 in a narrow section of the roadway called “Ricochet Alley.”