STUDIO CITY—This Labor Day weekend, at least three people have died due to fatal traffic accidents along the freeway in Southern California, according to sources. The first tragic accident took place Saturday evening. A 43-year-old Irvine man crashed his car into a freeway guardrail on the 101 Ventura Freeway going westbound in Studio City near Laurel Canyon Boulevard.
The driver proceeded to get out of his black Lexus and cross the freeway going opposite towards the eastbound lane when he was fatally struck by a 76-year-old Encino man driving a BMW. The California Highway Patrol had to close the two left lanes on both of the east and westbound sides of the freeway. The name and age of the victim has not yet been released. Both sides of the freeway have since been reopened.
The second incident occurred on the Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway in South Gate around 10:53 p.m. A motorist crashed into a power pole as well as a tree on the Paramount Boulevard off-ramp. The driver behind the wheel was killed upon impact while the woman who was also inside the vehicle was hospitalized, according to authorities.
The final fatal accident took place near 52nd Place in South Los Angeles on the Harbor (110) Freeway around 2:40 a.m. on Sunday morning. The incident involved a two-seater Smart car and a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The driver of the Smart car allegedly swerved to avoid hitting a vehicle that was driving too slowly in front of him when he collided with three men attempting to repair the broken down Monte Carlo.
The force from the crash resulted in the Monte Carlo being pushed forward, injuring the three men working on the car on the right shoulder of the freeway. One of the men was trapped underneath the car and he was killed by being burned to death. While the other man who was described to be a 47-year-old Wilmington man suffered from his injuries, which included; third degree burns to his arms and face as well as a broken pelvis. No word about the third victim by press time, said L.A. fire officials.
The 18-year-old driver of the Smart Car was identified as Dustin Blake Robinson. He was booked for second degree murder along with drunk driving at the Downtown Los Angeles Police department.
