Freeway

Rebecca Grossman floored her high-powered Mercedes SUV on a quiet residential street, speeding up to 81 mph and barely braking before fatally striking two boys in a Westlake Village crosswalk, a veteran crash investigator testified at the L.A. socialite’s murder trial Wednesday.Grossman tapped the brakes a second and a half before she slammed into Mark and Jacob Iskander, traveling 73 mph in a 45-mph zone, according to Michael Hale, an investigator with the Orange County district attorney’s office who analyzes vehicular…

Marcus Eriz made a habit of carrying his loaded Glock 17 when he traveled the freeways. Customized with red trim, a mag-well grip and a compensator to reduce recoil, the gun lay within easy reach in the pouch behind the driver’s seat. He wanted it with him, he would explain, because “people have been acting crazy around the freeway.”An Orange County jury on Thursday found the Costa Mesa man guilty of second-degree murder, three years after he fired a single shot into a passing car during morning rush hour on the 55…

The bullet that killed 6-year-old Aiden Leos punched a small hole in the trunk of his mother’s silver Chevrolet, a few inches from the license plate.The round traveled through the car’s back seat, through his booster seat and into the child’s back, passing through his liver, lung and heart. He was already lifeless, minutes later, when an off-duty police officer found him bleeding on the side of the 55 Freeway near his screaming mother and tried to revive him.When investigators caught up to 24-year-old Marcus Eriz after…

As Cruise continues to flail, Waymo is taking its self-driving cars to the next level. The company, which is known as a leader in the self-driving space, is finally taking its cars from the streets and onto the highway for the first time.In a press release, the company announced it is beginning to test its self-driving taxis on the freeway in Phoenix, Arizona. Waymo says that “just as we’ve taken a phased approach to rolling out our technology and operations in the past, we will continue to deploy in a…

A son on the way to the airport to say goodbye to his dying father watched time slip by. A mom comforted her hungry infant. And employees were late for work.Frustration generally boiled over earlier this week as protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza halted traffic for hours along a downtown Los Angeles freeway during morning rush hour. A month earlier in the Bay Area, a protest demanding the same thing shut down the Bay Bridge for hours — and delayed needed transplant organs. And on one of the busiest travel days…

In the middle of morning rush hour on one of the most notoriously congested thoroughfares in Los Angeles, dozens of protesters sat in a row stretching from one edge of the southbound 110 Freeway to the other. Calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, they chanted, sang in Hebrew and erected a 7-foot menorah in the middle of the freeway in downtown L.A. on Wednesday. Behind them, those at the vanguard of a miles-long traffic jam grew heated. Videos from news helicopters and social media showed angry motorists exiting…

The drive between Costa Mesa and south Los Angeles County on the 405 Freeway just got a whole lot faster — if you’re willing to pay the toll. New express lanes on the 405 in northwest Orange County are finally open after almost five years of construction, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority. The lanes debuted Friday morning, as part of the I-405 Improvement Project, aimed to ease congestion on one of the most heavily trafficked highways in the nation. The new express lanes, which run between State…

Jesse Dominguez had the same aspirations many in Los Angeles do: to be an actor. And he shared the same struggles too: substance use issues, a serious mental health disorder and homelessness.On Sunday afternoon, while in what his family said must have been a mental health episode or drug-fueled crisis, Dominguez was shot and killed by a California Highway Patrol officer following a struggle on the 105 Freeway in Watts near the sober living facility where he lived. CHP officials said that during the altercation, Dominguez…

Video recorded by a bystander appears to show a deadly encounter in which a California Highway Patrol officer repeatedly shoots a man after a struggle in the middle of the 105 Freeway in Watts on Sunday afternoon.The CHP confirmed Monday that a shooting took place on the freeway but did not provide further details. The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office said Monday the person had died, though it did not provide identification, pending notification of family. A cause of death was not released.CHP officials said…

Good news for Los Angeles commuters: A crucial tranche of the 10 Freeway south of downtown L.A. will reopen by Monday morning, a day earlier than previously expected — and weeks ahead of original projections. The fire-scarred section of the roadway will be back in business for the earliest commuters of the week, probably reopening early Monday sometime after midnight, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. It could even open late Sunday night if conditions are safe, Newsom’s aides said. The freeway is usually one of…