Santa Monica Crane Accident Crushes Car
A seven-ton hydraulic hammer suspended from a construction crane fell onto a car in Santa Monica on Tuesday morning, crushing the hood and passenger side of the vehicle and narrowly missing the 70-year-old driver.
Motorist Bill Clark was treated for scrapes at UCLA Medical Center and released after firefighters spent 25 minutes cutting him free from his Mercedes 190E, said Roni Roseburg, a Santa Monica Fire Department spokesman.
“He was a very lucky man,” Roseburg said.
The incident occurred about 9 a.m. on the Pacific Coast Highway onramp of Ocean Avenue, where construction crews were replacing a 40-year-old sewer pump.
It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, said Santa Monica Fire Department Battalion Chief Walter Shirk.
“It appears to be some type of crane failure,” he said.
Phone calls to Hill Crane Service, a Los Angeles-based firm that sublet the crane to the construction crew working on the project, were not returned.
In 1995, Cal/OSHA fined Hill $1,000 for lifting excess weight with a crane, according to agency records dating back to 1994, said spokesman Dean Fryer.
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