Paint Truck Hits Bus, Closing Freeway Exit
A truck loaded with 600 gallons of white paint collided with a county dial-a-ride bus Tuesday, dousing the bus occupants and a freeway exit, the California Highway Patrol said.
The Fairview Street exit of the Garden Grove Freeway was closed for three hours after the 3:55 p.m. accident, according to CHP spokesman Lyle Whitten.
He said the truck’s driver, William Goodwin, 33, of Garden Grove, was on the off-ramp when he apparently dropped his cigarette. As Goodwin leaned over to pick it up, the truck veered off the road and hit the dial-a-ride bus parked on the shoulder, overturning the bus, Whitten said.
The impact caused paint cans to pop open and spill on the bus and the freeway, Whitten said.
A passenger, Doroatha Cobb, 70, “was covered from head to toe in white paint,” Whitten said. Luckily, the paint is water-base, he added.
A small amount of paint also splashed on the driver of the bus, Robert Lohayza, 30, of Fullerton, Whitten said.
Cobb and Lohayza suffered minor injuries and were taken to Garden Grove Medical Center.
No citations were given and the investigation is continuing, Whitten said.
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