Two separate car crashes involving the Pacific Coast Highway led to road closures and a total of six injured parties over the holiday weekend.
On Friday, Dec. 31 at 9:40 p.m., a car crashed into the tunnel that connects the westbound I-10 freeway to the PCH in Santa Monica. Two people were injured in the New Year's Eve crash and transported to the hospital. The westbound I-10 freeway was shut down at Fourth Street and traffic was diverted off the freeway while police conducted their investigation and the wreckage was removed from the scene. The freeway reopened in that location at 2:23 a.m. According to Sgt. Erika Aklufi of the Santa Monica Police Department, drunken driving was not reported as a factor in the crash.
The second crash, which closed both the PCH and the I-10, occurred on Sunday, Jan. 2 around 12 p.m. Six cars, travelling both northbound and southbound, were involved in what Aklufi called a “chain reaction crash.”
There were a total of four people transported to the hospital following the crash, and authorities initially believed that one of the patients was critically injured. However, Aklufi reported that all of the injuries resulting from the crash ended up being fairly moderate.
The crash forced a shut down of the PCH in both directions. The southbound stretch was shut down for around four hours at Entrada Drive in Los Angeles, according to Aklufi. The westbound I-10 was also shut down at 20th Street. Drunk driving was not reported as a factor in this crash either. The cause of the collision is still under investigation.
