Car Flips; MINI Crashes Into Tow Truck In CA

Here's the story from the Orange County Register:

COSTA MESA - A driver suffered life-threatening injuries this morning after losing control of the vehicle on a connector between the 73 and 55 freeways.

Two hours later, there was a second accident at the scene, when a car slammed into the back of a tow-truck that had been called out to the first accident.

A tow truck driver makes a phone call after loading the remains of a white BMW on his flat bed after a driver suffered life-threatening injuries this morning after losing control of the vehicle on a connector between the 73 and 55 freeways. While he was responding, another car ran into his tow truck.

In the first accident, at 5 a.m., an older-model BMW sedan drove off of the connector and landed on its roof on the southbound side of the 55, rolling several times, police said.

Several witnesses told the California Highway Patrol that the driver was thrown from the vehicle, Officer Denise Quesada said.

The driver was taken to a trauma center at a nearby hospital, said Battalion Chief Bill Kershaw of the Costa Mesa Fire Department.

Around 7:15 a.m., a Mini Cooper slammed into the back of a tow truck, crushing its front end. An ambulance was sent for the driver, whose condition was not immediately known.

The connector from the southbound 73 to the southbound 55 was closed after the second accident.

The BMW was mangled beyond recognition; debris was spread out across the freeway and onto Bristol Street.