Second crash occurs on overpass

Paul Clinton

COSTA MESA -- This time, the crash wasn’t fatal.

On Sunday morning, a driver lost control of his vehicle while

traveling northbound on the Corona del Mar Freeway, near where a crash

claimed two lives just days earlier.

None of the six passengers or the driver of the 1986 Toyota Previa

minivan were killed when the vehicle flipped over the guardrail just

north of the Bear Street offramp.

The same could not be said on Friday, when two children were killed

when a red Honda sports-utility vehicle went airborne and slid down the

embankment.

Though at nearly the same location, the two accidents don’t appear to

be the result of a glitch in the freeway’s design at that point, said

California Highway Patrol Officer Joann O’Hair.

“If you’re paying attention and driving the speed limit, it’s fine,”

O’Hair said. “It’s probably coincidental. As far as I know there are no

defects there.”

Caltrans spokeswoman Sandy Friedman said she wasn’t aware of any road

conditions that could have lead to the two wrecks.

“As far as I know, there’s not anything substandard about that

roadway,” Friedman said.

The crash on Sunday occurred at 6:18 a.m. after driver Jose Vasquez,

24, of San Diego, lost control of his vehicle. The van was traveling in

the fast lane at speeds of between 80 and 90 m.p.h, police said.

The van hit the guardrail on the left, spun across the freeway, rolled

and jumped the guardrail on the right, officers said.

All but one of those in the car escaped serious injury, O’Hair said.

One adult passenger was taken to the hospital with several fractured

bones.

On Friday, the SUV that crashed killed two of the four passengers in

the vehicle. Deanna Ou, 15, of Lakewood and Christopher Chhim, 4, of

Bellflower.

The crash occurred at 1:15 p.m. Friday. The driver and other

passengers in the vehicle were not identified.

* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at [email protected].