A 79-year-old woman died after the car she was driving struck a fence, fell down an embankment and landed on its roof on the sidewalk along Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach last week, authorities said.
Read more Gordon Ramsay tavern opens at Downtown Disney
The crash happened just before 7:10 p.m. on Friday, July 10 on the east side of the 34800 block of South Coast Highway.
It was the second such fatal crash along that stretch of road in just over a year.
The driver had gone over a curb, crossed the sidewalk and landscaped area and hit a fence before traveling down the embankment.
Read more Minnesota prosecutors obtain long withheld evidence in investigation into protest shooting deaths
The woman was taken to Mission Hospital but died, police said.
Investigators were working to determine why the car left the roadway. It was unknown whether drugs, alcohol or a medical emergency factored into the crash.
The woman was not identified by police pending notification of her relatives.
In May 2025, another car rolled down the embankment and landed on its roof along South Coast Highway, killing a father who was teaching his teenage daughter how to drive. James Politoski, 64, was seated in the passenger seat with his then-15-year-old daughter, who had a driver’s permit, driving in a parking lot when the car went through a fence.
Read more Historic San Marino estate lists for $10.5M after restoration