Holiday Traffic Deaths Decline

Three teenage girls were killed Monday when the pickup truck in which they were riding went off a highway in Corona and plunged 84 feet into a canal, authorities said.

Lauren Nicole Campbell, 17, of Alta Loma apparently lost control of the truck about 7 a.m. on Interstate 15 near Temescal Creek Wash in Riverside County.

The truck drifted onto a dirt embankment, smashed through a chain-link fence and plunged into the waterway, which is a local flood-control channel, a CHP spokesman said.

There are no indications that Campbell was under the influence of drugs or alcohol and the investigation is continuing, he added.

Kimberly Anne Phillips, 18, of Etiwanda and Rachel Dorado, 17, of Alta Loma were also killed in the accident, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

A preliminary statewide count of traffic fatalities over the Memorial Day weekend was somewhat lower than last year’s.

Statewide, 20 people were killed in highway crashes from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday, compared with 33 deaths during the same period in 2001, CHP spokesman Luis Mendoza said. Statistics for the entire weekend have not yet been compiled.

In Orange County, a Marine from Camp Pendleton died after crashing his motorcyle into a wall Monday afternoon.

Police said Joshua Gruka, 20, of New York was speeding near the borders of Orange and Riverside counties about 2:15 p.m.

Witnesses said he was riding his motorcycle at more than 100mph around the dangerous twists of the Ortega Highway.

“He went head-on into a wall,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Katrina Lundgren. Gruka died of massive injuries at the scene, she said.

Although the overall highway death rate was lower than last year, the CHP emphasized that the holiday is much worse than a normal weekend.

“It’s more than a 50% increase in serious accidents and drunk driving arrests over your average weekend,” Mendoza said.

Across the state, 1,364 motorists were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the first 60 holiday hours, compared with 1,214 arrests last year.

CHP officers made 276 DUI arrests in Los Angeles County during the first 60 hours of the holiday weekend, compared with 250 arrests last year.

With many travelers returning home Monday, spokesmen for area airports and Amtrak trains reported no major delays or incidents Monday.