Teen Driver From Norco Killed After Swerving to Avoid a Cat
A teenage driver was killed when her car went out of control and overturned after she swerved to avoid a cat that dashed across a highway near Corona del Mar, officials said.
Elizabeth Bucha, 17, of Norco, died early Saturday at Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Hospital, said a spokesman for the Orange County medical examiner’s office. Two female passengers, one 16 and the other 18, also from Norco, sustained minor injuries in the crash, a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said.
CHP officials did not release the identities of the passengers, who were treated at Hoag and released. It is not known whether the three young women were related.
According to the CHP report, Bucha was driving a 1995 Ford Aspire at 12:20 a.m. when a cat ran across the road near East Coast Highway and Newport Coast Drive. She swerved left, then right before hitting the curb and losing control of the car.
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