The 25-year-old Irvine woman was involved in the crash just after 10 a.m. on March 3 in the parking lot of the store located in the 31702 block of Coast Highway near Third Avenue.
Laguna Beach, CA – The woman who died in a collision involving two work trucks that happened Tuesday morning at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Laguna Beach has been identified as Savannah Van Houtte.
The 25-year-old Irvine woman was involved in the crash just after 10 a.m. on March 3 in the parking lot of the store located in the 31702 block of Coast Highway near Third Avenue.
According to authorities, a CR&R trash truck and a Belshire Environmental Services work vehicle collided at the parking lot under unclear circumstances.
Van Houtte was a pedestrian in the area and was hit, sustaining critical injuries. Emergency personnel responded and transported her to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where she later died from her injuries.
Both trucks were servicing the store at the time of the collision.
Authorities are investigating to determine the circumstances surrounding the accident.
Parking lot accidents remain a significant yet often underreported safety concern in California. National data from the National Safety Council and NHTSA indicate that approximately 20% of all motor vehicle accidents occur in parking lots or garages, a trend reflected in California’s urban centers. While these collisions are typically low-speed, they result in over 60,000 injuries and 500 fatalities annually nationwide. In California, a notable portion of these incidents involve “back-over” accidents, where drivers striking pedestrians or children while reversing are a primary cause of serious injury.
The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) emphasizes that distracted driving is a major contributor to these figures, as drivers frequently use mobile devices while navigating parking lots at low speeds. Additionally, the rise in larger SUVs and trucks has decreased visibility, particularly for pedestrians in crowded commercial zones.
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