LAGUNA BEACH : Boy Hospitalized After Van Crash
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A 6-year-old boy was seriously injured Friday morning when a van driven by his mother struck the back of a construction trailer loaded with sand.
A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said the trailer, loaded with more than 12 tons of sand, was parked in the painted bike lane of Newport Coast Drive and extended about a foot into the right traffic lane.
The CHP said Debra Ripley, 37, of Laguna Beach struck the back of the trailer after she took her eyes off the road to “give a container of seltzer to her passenger.”
The accident occurred about 9:15 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of Newport Coast Drive, west of Vista Ridge.
The impact was so great that it moved the trailer nearly two feet forward, the CHP said. Ripley’s vehicle, a Volkswagen van, was reported to be going about 50 m.p.h. Both Ripley and her son were wearing seat belts.
The boy, whose name was withheld by the CHP, was taken to a nearby hospital by helicopter. He was reported to be suffering from severe head and chest trauma, bruises and a severed spine.
The CHP said Ripley suffered a broken collar bone and a cut on her cheek. She was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.
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