CHP Report Released in Christopher Laurie Accident

Over a year ago I did some blogging on a tragic car collision in which Christopher Laurie, son of Harvest Christian Fellowship Pastor Greg Laurie, was killed. Those posts got a lot of attention because of the nature of the collision (more on that later).

I've been watching for the release of the CHP accident report which had been promised for last December, and it appears that report is now out but. It has been released to attorneys of family members, but can't be released to the general public except by them. An interested reader sends me a story indicating that the family is exploring a lawsuit against CalTrans:

An attorney representing the family of a prominent Southern California pastor's son killed in a crash with a state vehicle said he will research whether to file suit against Caltrans.

Riverside attorney Ted Stream, who is representing the family of Christopher Laurie, received a copy of the California Highway Patrol report on the crash Thursday but said he had not yet fully reviewed it.

He filed a wrongful death claim against Caltrans but said he has not decided whether to file a lawsuit.

The claim had to be filed within six months to preserve the family's right to sue in the future, he said.

"We have some real concerns about how and when and where Caltrans was doing its work," he said.

Laurie, son of Harvest Christian Fellowship pastor Greg Laurie, died one year ago today after crashing into the rear truck of a Caltrans train of street-sweeping vehicles.

The California Highway Patrol said this week that Laurie was driving too fast for conditions while he traveled east in the carpool lane on Highway 91 east of Highway 71 at 9 a.m.

The dump truck was traveling at about 15 mph, according to reports at the time.

Laurie was traveling alone.

I really hope for the sake of Laurie's reputation they don't file a suit. Once they do that CHP report will become part of the record and the information will be release, and I predict it won't be pretty. From early reports Laurie was driving alone in the carpool lane (something for which he'd been previously cited), was driving at an excessive rate of speed (something else he had been previously cited for), and was possibly using his cellphone at the time of the crash (a distraction and also a violation of State law).

It's hard to imagine how one could place much blame on CalTrans for this accident given the fact that had Laurie obeyed either the carpool laws or speed laws (and preferably both) he probably wouldn't have been in a position to hit the CalTrans truck. When you take those kind of chances with your life, you might lose and even God himself might not decide to save your neck.

This is one of those times when I think it would be better to use this story as the cautionary tale it is, rather than try to shift blame from somebody who clearly made a series of mistakes, risked it all, and lost.

CHP Seems Reluctant to Release Info on Christopher Laurie's Accident

UPDATE: CHP report released to the family which may be considering a lawsuit.

A reader pointed out this link to a story on InstantRiverside.com that suggests that the CHP is not to anxious to release the final report on the Christopher Laurie accident:

There is still no conclusive report from the California Highway Patrol on the crash that killed Christopher Laurie on July 24. An investigation team headed by the CHP is to examine the collision and will likely offer a cause based on its findings.

Laurie, 33, died when his vehicle slammed into a Caltrans truck on eastbound Highway 91 in Corona. He was on his way to work at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside; his father, Greg Laurie, is the mega-church’s pastor. (Laurie is pictured with his wife, Brittany, and daughter, Stella.)

But in a series of phone calls over the past week, there appeared to be wide confusion over how the investigation results might be announced. Officer Mario Lopez, a public-affairs coordinator for the CHP, said that the Inland Division office in San Bernardino would defer to the Riverside office for investigation results.

Lopez directed calls to officer George Foard, an administration sergeant in the Riverside office, but general support officer Delores Mercuri said Foard was preparing for a deployment to Iraq. She said it was her understanding that the investigation was not complete, and was unclear what the procedure might be for informing the public once it was. “I guess I’m your contact, but it’s a job I don’t want,” she said.

In a follow-up phone call, officer Mario Lopez said, “Being that this is a high-profile investigation, we want to make sure we’re releasing the right information.”

That's kind of an odd reaction from the CHP. At the time of the accident we were told the CHP final report would take about two weeks. That was nearly a month ago.

The only "right information" that should be released is the final result of the investigation, including all causal factors. It appears that the CHP doesn't want to have the unenviable task of releasing information that won't be very easy to hear for those who knew Laurie.

Christopher Laurie's Fatal Crash May End Up a Cautionary Tale for Young Drivers

UPDATE: CHP report released to the family which may be considering a lawsuit.

I've often posted stories about teen drivers who combined speed with limited experience and had the expected and tragic result (you can click on the "Teen Drivers" label below). Christopher Laurie, son of Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship, was not a teen driver, but it's beginning to look like his accident will be a warning that young drivers will need to hear. The LA Times story includes this information:

Investigators were still trying to determine this afternoon how fast Christopher Laurie, son of mega-church pastor Greg Laurie, was driving when he hit a Caltrans truck and was killed Thursday in Riverside County. ...

Laurie, 33, of Huntington Beach, was driving alone "at a high rate of speed" in the carpool lane of the eastbound Riverside Freeway in Corona when his station wagon collided with a California Department of Transportation tractor, the California Highway Patrol said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

No other vehicles were involved and no one else was injured, authorities said.

The Orange County Register adds this:

Christopher Laurie, who had various traffic violations on his record, died when the Dodge Magnum he was driving to church rear-ended the last Caltrans truck in a five-truck sweeper crew that was clearing debris from the car-pool lane on the 91 Freeway in Corona. According to the California Highway Patrol, the Caltrans truck was traveling about 15 mph in the car-pool lane and Laurie, driving alone in the same lane, was traveling at a "high rate of speed and unable to stop prior to colliding.''

Traffic court records show that Christopher Laurie had various citations.

Most recently, Laurie pleaded guilty in January for driving solo in a car-pool lane last August, according to Orange County Superior Court records. And in February 2007, Laurie received a violation for speeding – a violation that was dismissed by attending traffic school.

Dating back to 2003, Laurie was cited for at least six speeding violations in Orange County and one in Riverside County; in 2006, Laurie was cited in Riverside County for speeding on westbound 91 at Serfas Club Drive – the same area where he died Thursday. He had violated car-pool lane rules twice.

This certainly doesn't take away from the tragedy of the situation. A young man with great promise, a small child and one on the way, is suddenly gone and quite possibly for no reason other than dangerous driving habits and unfortunate timing with a Caltrans crew.

Young drivers and parents of young drivers - take note.

UPDATE 7/27: The CHP is bringing in the big guns for the investigation

Meanwhile, a California Highway Patrol special investigation team, the Multi-Agency Investigative Team, is investigating the traffic collision that killed Christopher Laurie, 33, of Huntington Beach.

Riverside County CHP Sgt. John Wood said the team is called in for high profile cases. Wood said in this case it is likely the notoriety of the individual that led to the special unit being called.

According to a CHP report, five CalTrans trucks were traveling eastbound on the State Route 91, east of State Route 71, at 15 miles per hour in the car-pool lane around 9 a.m. on Thursday when Laurie's Dodge Magnum, driving at "a high rate of speed," slammed into the rear vehicle that was picking up debris. Laurie was driving solo in the car-pool lane, and the report said that his speed prevented him from stopping before the collision.

Since 2002, Laurie accumulated 18 traffic citations in Orange and Riverside counties, including seven speeding violations.

On Thursday's accident, Pam Gorniak, a spokeswoman for CalTrans in Orange County, said the agency checks all protocols after an accident.

"The work is generally done during the day for safety reasons," she said. "They want to be able to be seen by the motoring public and want to spot the debris in the roadway."

UPDATE: Stacy Harp has pictures and audio from Sunday's service at Harvest in which Pastor Greg Laurie and his other son spoke.

UPDATE: More info on Laurie's driving record here and here.

UPDATE 7-29: A Modern Day Parable

I've decided to add this addendum to the post for those folks who have been quite exercised over the fact that I would post factual information about the driver's history of traffic violations so close to the event. I've been called "insensitive", the post is "in poor taste" or might somehow lead nonbelievers astray. Here's a little background parable (though it's a true story) for those who are having so many problems with this (and you know who you are):

Back in May I was working upstairs in my house when I heard a long screech of car tires followed by an impact sound followed by something else I couldn't identify. I looked out the window and saw people running toward the house at the end of my street, so I thought I better check it out.
When I rounded my neighbor's garage where everybody was heading I found a VW sedan on it's side near my neighbor's front door, and four 16-year old kids who had just crawled out of the wreck. They had tried to take a 30 mph downhill curve at 50+ mph, lost control, hit a tree, and rolled down a 30 foot embankment.
One female passenger had minor cuts and another boy was pretty seriously hurt, though we didn't know it at the time. He later complained of shortness of breath and as it turned out he had broken ribs and a punctured lung. These kids skidded across a sidewalk that is often full of kids coming home from school that time of day. Thankfully, nobody else was involved.
Standing with me watching the paramedics treat the injured was my then 16-year old son who was in the process of learning to drive. I had a choice at that point. I could have said the following:
"Son, there's a lesson to be learned here, but out of respect to the injured and because I don't want anyone to think me insensitive to the family of the victims, we'll wait a couple of weeks and if I remember we'll talk about it then."
No.
I put one hand on my son's shoulder, used the other hand to point at the wreck, and I said:
"Son, this is what happens when you drive like an idiot. Don't drive like an idiot. Get it?"
"Got it, Dad."
This is what some call a "teachable moment". The lesson was learned.

When I read the information about Laurie's driving record in the OC Register, it looked like another "teachable moment", and based on the number of people who have hit this post in the last six days, I'm willing to take the arrows if some parent has used this story to scare the living hell out of their speed-prone teens, or if somebody who has been playing fast and loose with the traffic laws now is having some second thoughts.

Son of Harvest Pastor Greg Laurie Killed in Car Accident

This is very sad news:

Christopher Laurie, son of Pastor Greg Laurie and Cathe Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., died this morning in a car accident in Riverside. A resident of Huntington Beach, Laurie, 33, served as the art director at Harvest Christian Fellowship for the past three years.

In addition to his parents, Christopher is survived by his wife, Brittany, and daughter, Stella, as well as his brother Jonathan. Christopher and his wife are expecting another daughter in November.

Memorial plans for Christopher are pending. More information will be posted at harvest.org as details become available.

The Orange County Register story on the accident is here.


Greg Laurie is a nationally known pastor with both a radio ministry as well as the annual Harvest Crusades which have filled Anaheim Stadium and other venues for years. The next one is scheduled to begin on August 15th. One of my good friends and quartet buddies has attended Harvest Christian Fellowship for many years.

Our condolences go out to the Laurie family and their extended family at Harvest.

UPDATE: Christopher Laurie's fatal crash will be a cautionary tale for young drivers.