Man Killed In Auto Crash

A 52-year-old man was killed Friday on the Foothill toll road when his car crashed into an abutment, becoming the first fatality on an Orange County tollway, the California Highway Patrol said.

The accident occurred when Joseph Herman of Santa Ana swerved across the northbound lanes into the center median, where his station wagon hit a bridge pillar near Alton Parkway, CHP Officer Bruce Leon said.

“You couldn’t even tell there was a front end to this car,” Leon said. “The impact was that bad.”

The motorist was pronounced dead at the scene about 8:30 a.m., Leon said.

Traffic investigators were not sure what caused the accident, Leon said. There were no signs of mechanical problems or obstructions on the roadway, he said.

“We have no witnesses,” Leon said. “It’s so quiet out there, you can actually do something and not be seen.”

The $37-million Foothill toll road stretches for more than three miles, from Portola Parkway to Lake Forest Drive in Irvine. It is the only public toll road in California. Since its opening Oct. 16, 1993, more than 2 million motorists have driven the four-lane road, said Lisa Telles of the Transportation Corridor Agencies.

I February, 4.3 miles of roadway will be added to the south end of the toll road, said Terry Geohegan, director of operations for the Transportation Corridor Agencies. Future plans for the roadway include an extension to San Clemente, Geohegan said.

In an unrelated accident, Huntington Beach police were trying to identify a woman who was struck and killed by a van on Beach Boulevard Friday morning.

The van’s driver, identified as Guy Churchouse, 48, of Huntington Beach, told police he was traveling north on Beach Boulevard about 35 m.p.h. when his windshield exploded, officers said. The driver said he stopped his van and found a woman in her 50s lying in the traffic lane, police said in a prepared statement.