Woman Dies of Injuries After Car Slams Into Tree

A driver who slammed into a center divider tree Tuesday afternoon on Valley Circle Boulevard in West Hills died in a hospital of injuries suffered in the accident, authorities said.

The woman, whose identity was not released, was southbound in her Ford Escort in the 8000 block of Valley Circle about 4:30 p.m. when the vehicle crashed into the tree, said Lt. John McMahon of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

“The tree wasn’t all that thick,” he said. “You would have thought the car would have broken the tree in half.”

McMahon said there was light traffic at the time of the accident and no other cars were involved in the crash. The cause of the accident had not been determined, he said.