Firefighters Extract Man From Vehicle After Collision

Updated 12:05 p.m.

Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to extract the driver of an SUV involved in a traffic accident on Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Erwin Street in Woodland Hills Tuesday morning.

A tan 2001 Lexus SUV traveling southbound, in the direction of the 101 Freeway, and a black 2008 Ford Explorer negotiating a left turn from a northbound lane of Topanga onto Erwin collided at about 9:40 a.m. Both parties had green lights, according to Officer Gully of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division, who was on the scene.

The force of the impact, he said, caused the Explorer to overturn. The driver, a 68-year-old man from Woodland Hills, had to be extracted from the SUV with the help of the Jaws of Life. Both he and the driver of the Lexus, a 50-year-old Chatsworth woman, were taken to medical facilities, according to Gully. The man was in fair condition and the woman was in good condition.

According to Shawn Lenske of the Los Angeles Fire Department, the use of a seat belt probably saved the man's life.

"He was suspended by his seatbelt. He was upside down," Lenske said.

—City News Service contributed to this story.