Dramatic Rollover Crash On Ortega Highway

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — It's just 18 miles as the crow flies from the I-15 freeway to the Pacific Coast, however getting there is not a straight and easy road. Drivers seeking the most direct route east to Lake Elsinore and Temecula, or west to San Juan Capistrano navigate the Ortega Highway (SR-74). After dark, however, that curving switchback is pitch black, and careful drivers slowly navigate the back and forth curves with sheer drops into the canyon on one side and rocky cliffs on the other. With multiple collisions on this roadway in the month of September, the SR-74 is rapidly living up to the nickname "dead man's curve."

On Wednesday, Sept. 20 Scott Hollis, a Winchester resident and coach for the Arsenal FC South soccer club, was heading to San Juan Capistrano for a meeting. On his way west on Ortega Freeway as neared San Juan Capistrano, he saw emergency vehicles headed toward the curvy part of the road, knowing a severe accident must have occurred.

"At about 4 p.m. I was on the flat part of the road, just past the ranger station when I saw the fire trucks and ambulance, and fire rescue headed that way," Hollis said. "Then, rounding another curve, there was a small wreck, people were flashing lights and waving arms, and I saw a Volkswagen Beetle that had crashed into the back of a pickup truck."

This is not an uncommon sight for drivers of the Ortega Highway. Hollis has counted no fewer than eight wrecks he's witnessed in September alone.

According to California Highway Patrol officer Rafael Reynoso, there is not rhyme or reason to the number of crashes on that road. In September, there have been six major collisions that CHP has investigated.

"The number of collisions fluctuates," Reynoso said. "There is no pattern to crashes on the Ortega Highway. It just varies."

On Hollis's way back to Winchester, three cars raced by, passing multiple vehicles at a time on the straightaways.

"It looked like an accident waiting to happen," Hollis said. Veteran SR-74 drivers know that collisions on the narrow road mean hours of backups, if not just being forced to turn around and go the long way home. And those total closures equal at least one life lost.

On Wednesday night, just past the ranger station at mile marker 13, Hollis saw brake lights. Another crash. People were milling on the side of the road, pulling over on the narrow roadway, walking to the crash victims. A pickup truck completely upside down in lanes.

"The male driver is from Wildomar, driving a 2015 Toyota Tacoma pickup," Reynoso said. "He complained of pain but refused transport to the hospital."

The solo accident of an overturned truck is under investigation by the CHP, according to Reynoso.

"I took the picture five cars away from the truck," Hollis said. "There were people sitting on the side of the road, and whatever was in the back of the truck ended up all over the road. I just wish that drivers would slow down."

Photo, courtesy Scott Hollis