Woman Hurt When Auto Hits Bull : Accident: The driver apparently failed to slow her vehicle as she neared Ortega Highway area where animal wandered.

A motorist was injured late Tuesday when her car slammed into a 2,000-pound bull on Ortega Highway, authorities said.

Lina Rie Fry, 22, of San Juan Capistrano was in stable condition with cuts to her face at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, hospital officials said.

The bull did not fare quite so well. Authorities killed the animal shortly after the collision, saying it suffered massive injuries.

The accident occurred on Ortega Highway, about six miles east of Interstate 5 about 11:15 p.m., after California Highway Patrol officials received a call reporting a bull on the highway, CHP spokesman Bruce Lian said.

CHP officers set off road flares on the roadway to warn motorists and then tried to coax the bull off the highway, Lian said. He said the officers were cautious because “of course, no one is going to go against a (two-) thousand-pound bull,” Lian said.

But the bull was not cooperative and stayed on the roadway.

Despite the road flares, Lian said, Fry apparently did not slow down, and her 1988 Toyota collided with the bull while traveling about 55 m.p.h. Fry wore her seat belt, which probably saved her from further injury, he added. But the car was severely damaged.

The bull apparently escaped from a pasture on Rancho Mission Viejo property near Ortega Highway, according to company spokeswoman Diane Gaynor.

One of the security officers from the 35,000-acre ranch killed the animal and pulled the body from the roadway, said Ken Smith, a company employee.

Calls from motorists who spot animals on South County roadways are common, but reports of wandering livestock are rare, said Orange County Animal Control Lt. Brian Frick.