Callahan & Blaine

Two were killed in a wrong-way vehicle crash between a motorcycle and a Jaguar sedan Thursday morning. The 36-year-old motorcyclist, Hugo Juarez, was hit and killed by a car that was driving the wrong way on the 5 Freeway in Santa Ana. The driver of the Jaguar was also killed.

A call came in to CHP at 3:56 a.m. about a wrong-way driver, and the crash occurred just two minutes later.

All northbound lanes of the Santa Ana (5) Freeway just south of the Garden Grove (22) Freeway in Santa Ana were closed as officials investigated the scene.

“We don’t know where he got on the freeway. There is an entrance at Gene Autry. Possibly that could have been where he or she entered the freeway. We don’t know,” Officer Florentino Olivera said.

All northbound lanes were shut down for hours and traffic was backed up for miles. Several lanes were reopened around 6:30 a.m. The identity of the wrong-way driver has not been identified. Because he or she was badly burned, authorities say toxicology tests will be difficult.

Juarez, a truck driver who was on his way to work, leaves behind a wife, a 15-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. CHP said Juarez was doing everything right. He was wearing a helmet, but that wasn’t enough to save his life.

Accidents like these often leave families with the right to pursue a claim. As one of the leading catastrophic personal injury law firms in California, Callahan & Blaine has obtained numerous record-breaking verdicts and settlements in cases like this, helping bring some small justice to the aggrieved family. If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of an accident, contact the best personal injury attorneys in Orange County for expert legal counsel.