1 killed in 55 Freeway crash when car slams into guardrail between splitting lanes

SANTA ANA — A 31-year-old Costa Mesa man died early Friday, Oct. 5, after the car he was driving crashed into a guard rail on the southbound 55 Freeway.

At about 1:20 a.m. officers found the car with heavy damage and debris in the southbound lanes near MacArthur Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The driver had been traveling in the southbound carpool lane on the 55 freeway south of MacArthur Boulevard at an “unsafe speed,” a CHP report says.

In that area, the carpool lanes splits into two with one lane going to the northbound 405 Freeway while the other continues on to the southbound 55.

“Due to (the driver’s) unsafe speed, (the driver) failed to negotiate the change in the roadway condition,” the report states. “The front of (the car) collided into the metal guardrail separating the two lanes of travel.”

The car flipped multiple times before it came to rest on its tires.

The driver, whose name had not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene. It is unknown whether drugs or alcohol contributed to the crash.

The gender of the victim has not been publicly released yet.

No other car or people were involved in the crash.