A 3-year-old girl was killed when a small SUV crashed into a bus bench where her family was waiting in Orange on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.
The girl's father was left in critical condition after the 3:30 p.m. collision.
The crash happened at East Taft Avenue and North Tustin Street (map), according Orange police Sgt. Fred Lopez.
The driver of the SUV, which was traveling southbound on Tustin Street, said he swerved to avoid hitting a car that cut him off, passing into northbound lanes, where he swerved again to avoid oncoming traffic, Lopez said.
"He drove his vehicle onto the curb, strking a bus bench," Lopez said. "Unfortunately, when he struck the bus bench, there was a mother, father and their 3-year-old daughter, who was in a stroller."
The Orange Fire Department responded, taking the father and daughter to a local hospital, where the young girl was pronounced dead on arrival. The father was placed in a medical induced coma but is expected to survive, Lopez said.
The mother was uninjured.
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The driver of the vehicle, a white Kia Soul, was a 29-year-old man who was traveling with his 5-year-old son. Neither were injured, Lopez said.
The driver was cooperating with authorities and had not been charged with anything, Lopez said. He submitted to a blood test.
Authorities do not think alcohol was a factor, Lopez said.
Investigators are expected to be on scene into early Sunday.
