The driver of a runaway truck was killed Friday after he crashed into a parked car on the same steep Beverly Hills road where two LAPD officers were killed in separate collisions, officials said.
The crash occurred when the driver was unable to stop the flatbed truck in the 800 block of Loma Vista Drive about 8:20 a.m., according to the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Police said the truck slammed into a parked Toyota Prius and uprooted a tree, making its final stop when it hit a retaining wall.
The driver, who was trapped in the wreckage for some time, was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died, police and coroner's officials said. His name was not immediately released.
On March 7, 2014, a dump truck collided with a Los Angeles Police Department cruiser on the same roadway along Loma Vista Drive at Doheny Road. Officer Nicholas Lee was killed and his partner injured, as he and his partner were responding to an emergency call.
Two months later, on May 9, off-duty LAPD Detective Ernest Allen was killed when a concrete mixer collided with his vehicle about 25 yards away from the Lee crash.
The driver of a cement truck was also hurt in May 2014, when he crashed on Loma Vista, spilling cement.
Shortly after the crashes, officials called for a street study and issued a 30-day moratorium on the use of heavy haul trucks on that street.
Calling it a "a critical public safety issue," Beverly Hills police increased commercial vehicle enforcement in the area. Rules to improve safety on the Beverly Hills street were adopted later in 2014, including that heavy haul trucks must have secondary brake devices and carry proof of vehicle inspection.
Friday's crash was under investigation. No other injuries were reported.
