Teen Still Critical After Fatal Car Crash
An 18-year-old Thousand Oaks man remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday with severe head and internal injuries suffered in a gruesome crash that claimed the life of his friend.
Ajay Bhavnani was gravely injured and 18-year-old Daniel Hennessy, also of Thousand Oaks, was killed Thursday evening when their 1991 Honda Accord swerved off a road and hit a large pine tree, authorities said.
The impact of the 5:40 p.m. crash split the Accord in two, sending the passenger section of the mangled wreck skidding head on into another pine, some 40 feet away. Hennessy was pronounced dead at the scene on Pederson Road. Bhavnani, who was in the front passenger seat, was flown by helicopter to Ventura County Medical Center.
The Honda was heading west at 75 to 80 mph on Pederson just past Radcliffe Road when Hennessy lost control on a slight downhill curve, according to sheriff’s investigators.
The car left 200 feet of skid marks on Pederson. The posted speed limit on the street is 40 mph.
A preliminary investigation revealed that drugs and alcohol played no role in the fatal crash, said sheriff’s Senior Deputy Ed Tumbleson.
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