Three Injured in Morning Crash on PCH

By Hans Laetz

Three people were injured Friday morning when their speeding car on Pacific Coast Highway crashed into the back of a garbage truck that had just turned onto the highway at Decker Canyon Road.
Deputies estimate the car was traveling southeast faster than 70 miles an hour. The truck driver, turning left from the stop sign at the bottom of Decker, told deputies he saw the car, but thought it was traveling at the speed limit, giving him room to enter the highway.
The truck turned into the left lane, and then proceeded to move over. The car driver, a woman, tried to swerve but smacked into the truck hard, deputies said.
Two of the three people in the vehicle were air-evacuated to UCLA, and the third was taken there by ground ambulance. Airbags in the front of the crumpled sedan had deployed, saving their lives, deputies said.
Paramedics said all of the injuries appeared to be moderate, but the trio was helicoptered out because of the severity of the blunt force impact, as evidenced by the engine block that was shoved above the dashboard radio in the car.
The truck driver was not hurt.
PCH was closed for about 30 minutes until 9 a.m. while the helicopter landed on the roadway.