Two die in apparent wrong-way crash on Santa Monica Freeway
Two people were killed this morning after an apparent wrong-way driver triggered a fiery crash on the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, CHP officers said.
Police received reports of a driver traveling west in the eastbound lanes just after 5 a.m., police said. Soon after, that driver crashed into another vehicle near National Boulevard, causing one to burst into flames, CHP Officer Jennifer Connelly said.
Police confirm two men in their 30s were killed in the crash. A third person was in critical condition. Connelly would not say whether the driver who caused the crash was one of the fatalities. All eastbound lanes heading toward downtown Los Angeles were closed indefinitely and the Nos. 1 and 2 westbound lanes would be closed for an hour to allow emergency vehicles to approach the scene, Connelly said.
Traffic was backed up to the 405 Freeway following the collision. It was not immediately known if alcohol was involved in the crash.
--From KTLA.com
Photo: Motorists on the westbound 10 Freeway experience a jammed commute after a crash on the eastbound side of the freeway near National Boulevard. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
EDITOR'S PICKS:
The wrong way driver should be put away for murder if he survived the crash.
Posted by: James | January 28, 2009 at 09:20 AM
i live right near this exit and i was wondering why a helicopter was hovering over us for so many hours this morning. really sad and really scary.
Posted by: tiffany | January 28, 2009 at 10:10 AM
Why aren't the ramps affixed with something that prevents this, which becomes activated if someone attempts to go the wrong way. Possibly those "wrong way" spikes, which would only come up if someone attempted to go the wrong way. They could be controlled by emergency vehicles in the event they did need to access the freeway from an exit ramp or something.
Posted by: Kimber | January 28, 2009 at 02:20 PM
Kimber:
Please settle down. This was an unfortunate tragic accident, but we don't need a knee jerk reaction to every regrettable incident that occurs in the world. We are already a society too full of regulations.
Posted by: Nathan | January 28, 2009 at 10:57 PM
You can't blame or punish the wrong way driver if he is an illegal. Put the driver in jail who run into him!
Posted by: budswisr | January 31, 2009 at 06:48 AM