PCH Wreck Kills Driver
A 38-year-old motorist was killed and his passenger seriously injured in a traffic accident Saturday night on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point, authorities said.
The man, identified as Nick Ristin of Orange, was driving south about 9:45 p.m. when his Ford Mustang drifted over the double-yellow line and sideswiped a pickup, whose driver had swerved to avoid a head-on collision, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Abbott said.
Both vehicles spun out of control. The Mustang traveled about 100 yards before hitting a cement retaining wall on the side of the highway near Beach Road, Abbott said.
Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
The car’s passenger, Katherine Heffley, 20, of Silverado Canyon, suffered a collapsed lung and leg fractures and was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. She remained in intensive care Sunday.
Paramedics treated the driver and passenger of the pickup for minor injuries.
Abbott said that it appeared the driver of the Mustang was speeding but the cause of the accident is still under investigation.
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