Accident Follow Up

The car landed on its roof (Trevino/LAT photo)

Last month we posted about a Memorial Day automobile tragedy. The Mercury News follows up:

Last month in Laguna Beach, while a 15-year-old girl was out on a driving lesson with her father, their car rolled through a fence and down an embankment from a closed grocery store parking lot to Coast Highway below. She was seriously injured but expected to survive.

Her father, a passenger in the car, did not.

The crash appears to have been caused by the teen confusing the gas and brake pedals, Laguna Beach police Lt. Jesse Schmidt said.

Crashes involving teen drivers are not uncommon. In 2022, 12% of all fatal crashes in California involved young drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And nationally, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of unintentional death in 2020 for people ages 15 to 24.

But fatal crashes involving 15-year-old drivers with permits are far less common.

While the Laguna Beach crash stunned the community, such tragedies are unusual — in part because these drivers are typically more cautious. Teens with permits are often freshly familiar with traffic laws, having just passed the written exam. It’s usually their first time behind the wheel, and they’re required to drive with a licensed adult over 25 — often a parent or professional instructor — which adds a layer of supervision not present for fully licensed drivers...

Driving instructors often recommend that new drivers begin in flat, wide-open parking lots, away from other vehicles, to practice basic skills without added pressure. Once teens are comfortable steering, braking and accelerating, they can move on to light traffic areas under supervision.

[CHP's Alex] Pereyda also recommends starting with lower-powered vehicles and emphasizes the tone parents set in the car.

“Try to be as calm as you can,” he said. “You want them to feel comfortable — but not too comfortable — so that they can learn in a healthy way. And make sure they know the responsibility of driving… your life could be taken or another’s could be taken.”

IMHO, the teenager's father displayed a genuine love for his daughter by teaching her how to drive, and the tragedy is more poignant in that she will have to live with the accident's consequences for the rest of her life. BTW, if it's unclear when a therapist advises a patient to "forgive yourself," this example can be Exhibit A.

Memorial Day Tragedy

It's possible to smile at the headline. However, once the scope of the tragedy is made known, humor evaporates.

 

Gelson's Market parking lot in center

California dad dies during driving lesson with his daughter

A California father died in a crash on Memorial Day while he was teaching his 15-year-old how to drive in Orange County, police said.

The father, identified as 64-year-old James Politoski, was being driven by his daughter, who has a driver’s permit, Lt. Jesse Schmidt with the Laguna Beach Police Department told SFGATE.

In a social media post, Laguna Beach police said the driver crashed through a fence from the parking lot of Gelson’s Market in Dana Point. The car then plummeted down an embankment on Coast Highway between Wesley Drive and Montage Resort Drive. The preliminary cause of the crash appears to be confusion between the brake pedal and gas pedal, Schmidt said.

Laguna Beach police arrived at the crash at around 2:45 p.m., and the father was pronounced dead at the scene. The daughter was transported to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo with significant injuries, police said.

As of Wednesday morning, the teenager was in stable condition at the hospital and expected to survive, Schmidt said.

Learning from my dad and uncles, I got my Hawaiian driver's license when I was 15. I also taught a couple of people from my generation back in the '60's and '70's.

When it came time for my son to get his license, I realized that I didn't have the requisite knowledge, nor could I handle the aggravation. We enrolled him in lessons, and he passed the driver's test on his first try. I encourage any person trying to get his license to sign up for personal instruction; it is money well spent.

The Grace of God

(LA Times photo)

The Coastal fire in Laguna Niguel is nearly contained, and no more houses have been destroyed since Thursday.

My brother, his family and home are safe; they're lucky to have been spared despite living close enough to the flames that a change in the wind would have put them in danger.

Every year wildfires have destroyed hundreds of California homes.

Whether the structures are big or small, on the top of the hill or on the flatlands, very expensive or less expensive (none are cheap), the faces of the displaced are the same.

(LA Times photo)

Years of scrimping and saving, getting a place just the way they wanted it, and building memories with people they'll never see again, are gone in the billowing smoke.

The circumstances aren't that different that I can't imagine their misfortune happening to me.

I think, there but for the grace of God go I.

Coastal Fire

(Image from Orange County Register)

The fire season has started in Orange County.

The Coastal fire has burned at least 20 homes since it swept across Aliso Woods Canyon into Laguna Niguel on Wednesday, fire officials said.

The fast-moving brush fire prompted the evacuation of area homes and a luxury resort and golf course.

As of 9 p.m., the fire had grown to 200 acres in windy and dry conditions. Another 100 homes were potentially in the fire’s path, according to authorities.

After visiting our mom in Honolulu on Mother's Day, my younger brother came home to the Coastal fire.

He sent this photo from his home, a mile northeast and downhill from the burn area.

Thank goodness he and his wife have relatives in the area, but not too close by.

Stay safe, bro.