Three-Car Crash Snarls PCH Traffic

A week ago Thursday, Pacific Palisades residents driving on Pacific Coast Highway between 7 and 8 p.m. were caught in a traffic snarl because of a three-car accident in the 400 block (near Back to the Beach Cafe), located between the California Incline and the Beach Club. According to Santa Monica Public Information Officer Lt. Alex Padilla, a 2008 Toyota Corolla headed southbound in the number one lane and driven by a 27-year-old male, veered into the number one northbound lane, colliding head-on with a 1992 Toyota Camry, driven by a 19-year-old female. The Camry was driven back into a 2001 Honda, driven by a 30-year-old female. All three drivers, as well as a 19-year-old passenger in the Corolla, were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. The crash closed traffic both ways on PCH as well as on the Incline. Cars northbound on PCH between the Incline and the accident scene were forced to make U-turns and exit by the Pier. Traffic was heavy on side streets and through Santa Monica Canyon, and was backed up past the McClure Tunnel onto the 10 Freeway. Coincidentally, at about the same time, the California Highway Patrol was involved in a westbound car chase on the Santa Monica Freeway. Due to McClure Tunnel traffic, the suspect’s car, as well as the patrol cars, came to a complete stop. The suspect was forced out of the car and taken into custody. Padilla did not know what the driver was charged with. An earlier accident on Sunset Boulevard, just east of Palisades Drive, closed two lanes of traffic. Theresa Heim-Kilkowski, the Palisadian-Post’s Highlands correspondent, reported that the accident occurred around 5:30 p.m. ‘I was turning right onto Sunset, going to the Spectrum Club, and I saw the flares up, but I couldn’t see much because they were in the opposite direction.’ Fire Station 23 Captain Bill Ernest reported that a woman in her 60s, driving west, lost control of her late-model Jaguar, which hit the right embankment, flipped and landed on the roof. The car was totaled and the woman was transported to St. John’s Hospital with what firemen termed ‘non-life-threatening injuries.’ Two westbound lanes of Sunset were closed.