Three Killed in Head-On Crash on Toll Road

Three people were killed on the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor on Wednesday when a northbound car crossed the median and collided with an oncoming car.

A woman and 5-year-old boy in the southbound car, a red Ford Tempo, were pronounced dead at the scene, as was the 16-year-old male driver of the other car, a blue Subaru, authorities said. A man in the Ford was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo in critical condition, said Scott Brown, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority, which responded to the call. A 15-year-old male passenger in the Subaru also was hospitalized in moderate to serious condition.

Identities of the victims were not released pending notification of relatives.

“We don’t know what happened,” Brown said of the accident, which occurred about 6:30 p.m. just north of Greenfield Drive in Laguna Niguel. The grassy median at the point is about 75 feet wide, a police spokesman said.

The southbound lanes were closed several hours for the investigation, said Mark Reeves, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

The 15-mile toll road, which opened three years ago, has been the scene of several accidents. Last year, the state agreed to spend $2 million to improve safety on the road by giving it a grainier surface after a rash of rain-related accidents.

Though the road was built to state engineering, design and safety specifications, transportation officials said, there were 31 rain-related accidents in its first year. Of those, 80% were caused by excessive speed, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Those accidents resulted in 13 injuries and one death, CHP officials said.