LA PALMA : Motorist Killed in Freeway Accident
A 21-year-old man was killed Tuesday night when his car drifted off the Riverside Freeway, crashed into a wall and flew 30 feet into the air before smashing top-down on an embankment, the California Highway Patrol said.
Antonio Rodriguez of Tustin died at the crash scene at Coyote Creek, which straddles Orange and Los Angeles counties. He was wearing his seat belt, CHP Officer Lyle Whitten said.
Whitten said witnesses on the eastbound freeway around 11:10 p.m. reported seeing Rodriguez’s car drifting across the freeway and striking a guard rail on the shoulder. The car cruised back into a traffic lane but immediately veered off the freeway again, this time careening into an ice plant area and striking another guard rail, Whitten said.
The car then “went airborne” and smashed through a block wall, he said. “It flew about 30 to 40 feet before hitting the embankment.”
The car landed on its top, inflicting major head injuries on Rodriguez, Whitten said.
An investigation is continuing but it was not immediately known what caused Rodriguez to lose control of the car.
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