A Friday night drive in Laguna Beach turned deadly when a 79-year-old woman was killed after her car went over the edge of a parking lot above South Coast Highway, tumbled down a steep embankment and landed upside down on the sidewalk below. Emergency crews were called shortly after 7 p.m., and the driver was taken to Mission Hospital. The crash has reignited concern about a stretch of Coast Highway where another driver died after a similar plunge last year.
Laguna Beach police say officers and firefighters were dispatched to a collision near the Aliso Creek Plaza shopping center. Preliminary details indicate the vehicle ran over a curb, crossed a landscaped area and smashed through a fence before dropping roughly 20 to 25 feet and overturning, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reports that video from local outlets shows the car coming to rest on its roof on the sidewalk. The driver, who was the only person in the vehicle, was pronounced dead at Mission Hospital, police said, according to Patch.
A deadly repeat at the same embankment
Authorities say this is the second deadly plunge from an elevated parking area in this part of Laguna Beach in as many years. In May 2025, 64-year-old James Politoski died after his car broke through a fence at the upper parking lot of a Gelson’s Market and tumbled down to Coast Highway, according to a city news release from the City of Laguna Beach. In that earlier crash, a teenage driver survived but was hospitalized.
Calls for fixes along Coast Highway
Neighbors and safety advocates have long warned that the combination of narrow sidewalks, steep bluffs and heavy traffic along Coast Highway creates a dangerous mix. Previous reporting shows the split control between the city and Caltrans has complicated attempts to push through safety improvements. The latest fatality has renewed local calls for stronger barriers, clearer signage and engineering changes at high-risk parking lots near the highway.
Investigators seek witnesses
Laguna Beach police did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the Times reports, as investigators work to determine how the vehicle left the parking area and went over the fence. Patch reports that witnesses are being asked to contact Cpl. Andrew Lopez at 949-497-0701 with any information about the crash.
Authorities have not released the driver’s identity, and the investigation remains open, with no immediate word on possible engineering changes at the site. City officials and state agencies have not announced a timetable for any safety work, pending the outcome of the probe.
