Was it Alcohol? Drugs?

19Mar08

This morning you saw us live above the 118 Freeway in Porter Ranch. Last night, just before midnight, CHP Officers (I always want to call them “Troopers” but I’ve been told they don’t like that) say someone was driving EASTbound in the WESTbound lanes. That’s right, the WRONG way. The driver (in one of those Scion box cars, like a minivan) then hit a semi head-on which lost control and slammed into a tiny Chevy Cobalt. The crash erupted in flames.

Amazingly, the innocents in this were not hurt. The semi driver had minor injuries and was taken to the hospital but the driver and passenger in the Cobalt walked away. The Scion driver, though, who caused the accident, died on impact. If you watch our video closely, you’ll see, there was probably no way to survive; the car was mangled.

If you drive in the area it probably messed with your morning commute. BOTH sides of the freeway were closed from midnight to 5am – that’s when the Eastbound lanes reopened; Westbound opened up around 8am. NewsChopper 4 had some great shots of the traffic from above and Paul Johnson had great ideas for alternate routes.

But here’s the big question: why did it happen? CHP says they wouldn’t be surprised if it was alcohol or drugs; you don’t just jump on the wrong way on the interstate and drive four miles (or more had there not been a crash). We’re waiting for toxicology tests to find out for sure – the crash and resulting fire pretty much destroyed anything that would’ve been obvious at the scene (i.e. empty bottles, pipes, etc.).

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Tags: 118 Freeway, CHP, Cobalt, Porter Ranch, Scion