Fatal Freeway Accident in Mission Viejo

While triple-tasking last night (blogging, watching TV, and listening to the Orange County Fire broadcasts) I heard the call for this accident which occurred just a short distance from my house:

The driver of a Toyota Corolla was killed Monday night when an SUV crashed into his disabled car on the I-5, authorities said.

Francisco Cinto, 40, had stopped on the southbound lanes of the freeway just south of Alicia Parkway at about 9:35 p.m., according to a collision report from the California Highway Patrol. The driver, who has not yet been identified, turned the car's hazard lights on when the vehicle became disabled.

The Corolla had stopped on the southbound lanes of the freeway just south of Alicia Parkway at about 9:35 p.m., according to a collision report from the California Highway Patrol. The driver, who has not yet been identified, turned the car's hazard lights on when the vehicle became disabled.

Shortly afterward, a 21-year-old driver in a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe crashed into the back of the Corolla, the report stated.

The 21-year-old man, who has not been identified, was driving behind another vehicle before the crash occurred. The vehicle in front of the SUV swerved suddenly in front of the Corolla to avoid hitting it.

The driver of the SUV was unable to avoid hitting the Corolla, crashing into the back of the vehicle at about 70 mph, the report stated.

The impact sent the SUV across all lanes of the freeway until it hit a concrete wall on the right shoulder of the southbound lanes.

The driver of the Corolla was found dead at the scene as firefighters tried to pull him out of the car, said Capt. Greg McKeown of the Orange County Fire Authority.

I knew it was going to be bad when I heard the CHP had completely closed the freeway and one of the first firemen on scene commented that he wasn't sure the patient was going to be "workable".  It took quite awhile for the extrication, and then shortly thereafter the incident commander informed dispatch the patient was "914c", code for deceased.

I get on the freeway at La Paz all the time and we forget that even a routine trip could be dangerous. This is the fourth fatal accident at or near that location in the last few years, including the crash in 2007 that took the lives of three small children.