Executive Summary
- A 29-year-old man died after his Audi struck a Ford Expedition on the Pacific Coast Highway early Monday.
- The collision caused the Ford to crash into wetlands and the Audi to flip into a parking lot.
- This incident marks the third traffic fatality in Huntington Beach since December 1.
- Police do not suspect impairment in the surviving driver but are awaiting coroner reports for the deceased.
A 29-year-old Huntington Beach man was killed early Monday morning when his vehicle struck an SUV on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), resulting in a rollover crash that injured another driver and marked the city’s third traffic fatality within a single week. The incident occurred shortly after 2:00 a.m. south of Warner Avenue near the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve, prompting an immediate response from local law enforcement and emergency services.
According to a news release from the Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD), arriving officers discovered that a white Audi Q5 and a black Ford Expedition had collided. Preliminary investigations indicate that the Ford was traveling northbound on PCH when the Audi struck the vehicle from behind. The impact caused the Ford to lose control and careen into the adjacent wetlands, while the Audi overturned and came to rest upside down in a beach parking lot west of the highway.
HBPD officials reported that the driver of the Audi, whose identity has not been immediately released pending notification of kin, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Ford, identified as a 44-year-old man from Sunnyvale, sustained minor injuries. Police stated that the surviving driver remained at the scene, cooperated with investigators, and was subsequently transported to a local hospital. Investigators noted that they do not believe the driver of the Ford was impaired at the time of the collision, while toxicology results from the Orange County Coroner’s Office are pending for the deceased driver.
The crash necessitated the closure of PCH in both directions between Warner Avenue and Seapoint Street for approximately three hours to facilitate scene cleanup and evidence collection. This fatality represents the third traffic-related death in Huntington Beach since December 1. Previous incidents cited by authorities include the death of 71-year-old pedestrian Kurt George Mickel on Springdale Avenue and a high-speed collision the following afternoon on Heil Avenue that killed driver Ryan Mark Larson.
Investigative Outlook
The frequency of fatal collisions in Huntington Beach over such a condensed timeframe suggests a critical period for local traffic enforcement and accident reconstruction teams. As the HBPD continues its inquiry, the focus will likely shift to determining the precise velocity of the Audi prior to impact and ruling out or confirming the presence of intoxicants. The cluster of fatalities highlights immediate challenges for municipal traffic safety operations, potentially necessitating increased patrols or targeted enforcement zones along high-speed corridors like the Pacific Coast Highway to mitigate aggressive driving behaviors.
