Mind-blowing tragic car accident this AM:

[speeder]

In the neighborhood of my buddy's shop, I was there this AM and the emergency and police vehicles were streaming by at top speed. The Hollywood police and fire station is right up the street from him. We knew something big was happening, this was it:

Hollywood crash: 2 young kids, mom killed | abc7.com

Wow. That could have been me, I drive through that intersection all the time. They got T-boned by an SUV running a red light speeding on the wrong side of the street. A young mother and 2 kids....

[look 171]

I too was just there yesterday. it is how I go to West Hollywood. So sad. I see it all the time where people are rushing and don't yield, or wait at stop signs. They run them without even looking. You have no idea how many time I have been cut off when other drivers come on to traffic without waiting .

[aap1966]

Pray for the dad, and the emergency guys that had to respond.................

[Heel n Toe]

Scary stuff. Keep us posted on any more info that comes out due to further investigation. Makes you wonder if the SUV driver could've been on his cell.

Do they normally check the cellphone records in cases like this?

One of the comments...
This is a great tragedy. It should not be left unsaid that cars speed up Highland like they were already on the freeway. I used to live in near Highland north of Franklin and I was afraid to cross the street. Something should be done to stop this madness.

[porwolf]

How could that possibly happen? Was texting involved? I recently have seen a LAPD cop driver texting in his car, though not at that speed.

[crustychief]

We had a gnarly one here as well.
Investigation Continues In Fatal SR-78 Crash - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego

[speeder]

In this case I am not guessing texting, though it's incredibly widespread and dangerous. As the comment in John's post relates, people speed like crazy on Highland during rush hour. It's one of those major north/south streets where it's tow away no parking from 7-9am and 4-6pm and all lanes are hauling ass including the curb lane. When i heard that it was a fatal T-bone accident, I guessed (incorrectly) that it was someone in the "gutterball" lane running a light that just turned red and someone on the cross street moving into his path the moment their light turned green w/o looking.

That scenario seemed most likely because the westbound car that got t-boned would only have to have travelled a few feet to be in the path of the northbound car that just barely blew the red light.

What actually happened is a lot more sinister and I predict 3 counts of homicide against the SUV driver. He will do serious prison time if he doesn't kill himself in shame first, which is what he will do if he has any character at all. Don't count on it.

He must have been just speeding and driving like he was in the Indy 500 on the final stretch. He saw the light turn red ahead of him and decided to pull out of traffic on the left and go around the stopped or stopping cars ahead of him. Think of the way that police and fire vehicles swing around stopped cars, always on the left even if it means into the oncoming lane. Maybe there were no cars in the southbound (oncoming) lane at that moment, all of the heavy traffic is going north at that hour.

Maybe he was late to work or going to be. Maybe he was rushing to catch a plane at Burbank on the other side of the hill. None of these things make a bit of difference to the most likely criminal act, I'm just trying to imagine why someone would be driving like such a nut. The young mother in the minivan would have never seen what hit her, especially if there was a truck or large SUV stopped at the light blocking her view.

I see people run lights that are redder than than the devil everyday in my neighborhood. It's a cultural thing with Koreans; besides being just generally horrible drivers, they run lights WAY after they've changed. I don't know why. Obviously, people from other backgrounds run red lights and drive badly too. But it's a rare thing to see in general and an everyday thing in my area.

[craigster59]

I was down there on my way to Paramount and traffic was a mess. I know what you mean in regard to people speeding on Highland at rush hour. Usually they're whizzing up the gutterball lane and squeezing back over at the last second when they come up on all the cars making a right turn.

Terrible for the family and hope the driver at fault is severely prosecuted.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by speeder

In this case I am not guessing texting, though it's incredibly widespread and dangerous. As the comment in John's post relates, people speed like crazy on Highland during rush hour. It's one of those major north/south streets where it's tow away no parking from 7-9am and 4-6pm and all lanes are hauling ass including the curb lane. When i heard that it was a fatal T-bone accident, I guessed (incorrectly) that it was someone in the "gutterball" lane running a light that just turned red and someone on the cross street moving into his path the moment their light turned green w/o looking.

That scenario seemed most likely because the westbound car that got t-boned would only have to have travelled a few feet to be in the path of the northbound car that just barely blew the red light.

What actually happened is a lot more sinister and I predict 3 counts of homicide against the SUV driver. He will do serious prison time if he doesn't kill himself in shame first, which is what he will do if he has any character at all. Don't count on it.

He must have been just speeding and driving like he was in the Indy 500 on the final stretch. He saw the light turn red ahead of him and decided to pull out of traffic on the left and go around the stopped or stopping cars ahead of him. Think of the way that police and fire vehicles swing around stopped cars, always on the left even if it means into the oncoming lane. Maybe there were no cars in the southbound (oncoming) lane at that moment, all of the heavy traffic is going north at that hour.

Maybe he was late to work or going to be. Maybe he was rushing to catch a plane at Burbank on the other side of the hill. None of these things make a bit of difference to the most likely criminal act, I'm just trying to imagine why someone would be driving like such a nut. The young mother in the minivan would have never seen what hit her, especially if there was a truck or large SUV stopped at the light blocking her view.

I see people run lights that are redder than than the devil everyday in my neighborhood. It's a cultural thing with Koreans; besides being just generally horrible drivers, they run lights WAY after they've changed. I don't know why. Obviously, people from other backgrounds run red lights and drive badly too. But it's a rare thing to see in general and an everyday thing in my area.

So many drivers (Many appears to be foreigners) do not stop to make a right turn on red. I am not talking about a rolling stop, but they roll through like the stop sign or red light isn't even there. That's a huge problem for speeding gutter runners in big heavy vehicles, or any vehicles for that matter. I have done my share of running gutters in my younger days. I think speeding in those blind section hoping the pedestrians will not lose their foot hold and fall into the street. If they do, they will smash like a flies.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by porwolf

How could that possibly happen? Was texting involved? I recently have seen a LAPD cop driver texting in his car, though not at that speed.

[speeder]

I hope that made it to the local newspaper. What a jerk.

EDIT: It's also impossible to determine whether that car is moving or stopped in traffic in the photo. Texting while stopped is not good but a huge difference from doing it while flying down the road.

[KevinTodd]

We've had four fatal crashed in Metro ATL in less than a week all involving wrong-way drivers on the interstates. Simply mind-blowing that anyone could possibly get on the highway like that unless they were absolutely blasted out of their minds. The sad thing is that in almost each of these cases an innocent motorist was killed. Makes me think twice about hopping on my bike for a quick jaunt anymore....

[Zeke]

I couldn't understand the circumstances until speeder explained the accident. The L.A. Times described it as a head-on collision, but the front of the car is not damaged. The did note that the driver of silver car was in the opposing lanes when it struck the blue car. They got part of it right.

Horrible accident. I mean that's a crying ******* shame.

I've got idiots roaring past me everyday that rush to the next stop only for me to pull up next to. WTF is wrong with people?

"Gutterball lane." That's a good one. I lived in Vegas for a year once and most of the streets have no parking and are 6 lane city streets. Man, if you pull out of a 7Eleven, you better not nose into that right lane or you'll get your bumper taken off at 50MPH.

Most of us down here south of Los Angeles won't go there. The place is insane. At least I know what to expect in Long Beach and that could be anything. I have streets here that I travel infrequently because of the mayhem.

[jyl]

Any red light cameras there?

I know lots of folks hate them as revenue generators or rear-end accident triggers, and they can certainly be abused in that way, but in my experience they sure do cut down on the red light runners.

In Los Angeles, the speed on surface streets is nutty. Even when I lived there many years ago, traffic would routinely fly at 50-60 mph down the major streets. Freeway speeds on normal roads that had driveways, crosswalks, stopped/turning traffic, etc.

[Head416]

Imagine you're at work, starting your day, and your phone rings. You find out that your 20-something wife and two elementary aged daughters were killed by some idiot flying through a red light on the wrong side of the road.

I know what I would do. Damn the consequences. Nothing left to lose.

[speeder]

The selfishness of human beings is staggering and nothing illustrates it more often than driving recklessly. I've actually heard people who've murdered with their car and been punished try to turn it into something bad that happened to them.

Oxygen thieves.

[72doug2,2S]

Sounds like the SUV driver thought he/she was on a speed bike. Truly sad.

[daepp]

KFI says he was driving on a suspended license.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by 72doug2,2S

Sounds like the SUV driver thought he/she was on a speed bike. Truly sad.

That would have turned out better for him and the mother/girls, if you catch my meaning. Still, a bike can do some serious damage to a car. You won't see me getting out of my truck anytime soon, but I should move up to a model with air bags.

[flatbutt]

I can't get over the condition of the van. The SUV had to have been really hauling.