Motorist Killed in One-Car Accident

A 28-year-old Irvine man died early Tuesday after losing control of his car and crashing into a series of sand barrels and a guard rail, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

The accident occurred about 2 a.m. when Surinder K. Sharma, 28, of Irvine, was making the transition from the southbound San Diego Freeway to the Corona del Mar Freeway and struck a freeway divider, Officer Keith Thornhill said.

The car then continued through some sand barrels and then crashed into a guard rail, he said.

The impact of the accident caused sand barrels to burst into small pieces and sand was “thrown all around the scene,” Thornhill said.

Sharma, who was not wearing a seat belt and was apparently speeding, authorities said, was ejected through the windshield and thrown 20 feet. He died at the scene.

The CHP and Costa Mesa police are investigating whether Sharma was involved in a hit-and-run accident prior to the crash, but details on the previous incident were not available Tuesday. Authorities shut down the transition road and two lanes of the San Diego Freeway for about four hours, Thornhill said.