A family is mourning and a young driver is battling injuries after a driving lesson ended in tragedy on the Coast Highway in Laguna Beach. This Monday afternoon session turned fatal when their car broke through a fence barrier and plummeted down an embankment, according to FOXLA.
The accident, which claimed the life of an adult male passenger and left the teen driver with significant injuries, was reported by the Laguna Beach Police Department at around 4:15 p.m. on Monday. Emergency crews responded to the incident location on Coast Highway, between Wesley and Montage Resort drives, where the vehicle landed upside down after its roughly 40-foot fall. "Tragically, an adult male passenger in the vehicle was pronounced deceased at the scene," the Department expressed its condolences in a statement obtained by KTLA.
Further reporting by CBS Los Angeles provided details that the deceased was teaching a teenage relative how to drive when their vehicle unexplainably surged through a barrier at a closed Gelson's Market parking lot. The man died right there, however, the teen girl, who has a permit, survived and is expected to recover after being rushed to a Mission Viejo hospital.
While the teen driver's relationship to the deceased has not been officially confirmed, the incident has prompted an ongoing investigation into what caused the car to leave the parking lot and career down the embankment with such fatal consequences. The Laguna Beach Police Department is leading the inquiry and, as reported by FOXLA, the cause of the collision currently remains under investigation with updates anticipated as further information becomes available to the authorities.
