Scores Wounded in Successive OC Freeway Crashes
March 31, 2009
Orange County – At least 5 multiple-vehicle collisions which occurred along the county’s road and freeway system, has caused monstrous traffic jams in Freeways 91, I-405 and 22.
The California Highway Patrol reports that at least 8 vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction car crash on the westbound 91 Freeway near North Euclid Street. The accident blocked traffic on lanes 1 and 2 as well as the carpool lane and slowed down traffic in Fullerton.
A SigAlert was issued and all affected lanes were blocked for over an hour.
Another SigAlert was released a few minutes later at the northbound I-405 as two automobiles collided near Seal Beach. Nobody was injured but the accident closed the carpool and the second lane of the said freeway.
The CHP also noted that two vehicles were stalled along the right shoulder of Westbound 22 near Knott Street in Garden Grove. No one seemed to be hurt.
Three cars also got involved in a second traffic accident along I-405 near Slater Avenue in Fountain Valley at around 9AM. The CHP issued a third SigAlert to clear all lanes for this incident.
About an hour after the freeway mishaps, a mother and her two young children got injured as their car was blindsided at Newland Street and Yorktown Avenue in Huntington Beach.
Witnesses say that a Hyundai Tiburon t-boned a silver Volkswagen station wagon around 10 a.m. near the intersection. The collision caused traffic coming from Newland Street to be diverted on Yorktown Avenue.
Lt. Mike Reynolds of the Huntington Beach Police Department said that the car’s safety features and seatbelts have saved the family from suffering any major injury.
Four blocks to the north, another multiple-vehicle collision involving a Honda car and a Toyota Tacoma pick-up occurred along Newland Street near Warner Avenue an hour later. The driver of the Honda suffered severe injuries and had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital.
Officers and rescue volunteers from the police and fire departments of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley responded to the scene.