Woman may have been driving drunk in fatal California accident
A 28-year-old man who was the passenger in A GMC S-10 pickup involved in an allegedly alcohol related roll-over accident near Disneyland died on Sunday, according to the California Highway Patrol. Police say a 28-year-old woman was driving the pickup at the time of the California car accident. The woman reportedly was speeding on the Santa Ana Freeway just before the crash.
Police say the woman made a sudden lane change from the third to the fourth lane. The pickup truck clipped the rear end of a 1995 Mercury Villager at roughly 12:45 a.m. Sunday. The woman reportedly lost control of the pickup truck while carrying excessive speed.
The pickup truck spun out of control and left the pavement, skidding toward the steep embankment along the freeway. The skidding vehicle then struck a bridge abutment at Disneyland Drive. The vehicle crashed head-on into the abutment. The impact caused the truck to roll over.
The vehicle is believed to have overturned several times in the violent car accident. The GMC S-10 rolled across several lanes of the freeway, coming to a rest in the Number 1 lane of the Santa Ana freeway, according to the CHP.
The 28-year-old woman driving the pickup and her male passenger each sustained head injuries and other internal personal injuries in the accident. Both occupants of the pickup were taken to UC Irvine Medical Center for treatment.
Authorities say the 28-year-old male passenger in the pickup truck succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 4:15 a.m. Sunday. The woman is being held on suspicion of felony drunk driving in relation to the accident, according to authorities.
A 24-year-old female passenger in the Mercury Villager also sustained injuries in the accident. She was taken to Western Medical Center for treatment. The driver of the Mercury did not require hospitalization after the crash.
Source: Contra Costa Times, "Woman arrested on suspicion of felony DUI after pickup truck flips on 5 freeway, passenger killed," 18 Jul 2011
