Two drivers were killed and a 7-year-old girl was hospitalized after a wrong-way crash on the 241 Freeway in Lake Forest late Friday night. The California Highway Patrol says a Honda SUV driven by 57-year-old Norma Herrera of Irvine was traveling north in the southbound lanes, just north of Lake Forest Drive, when it slammed head-on into a BMW sedan around 10:35 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2026. Herrera and the BMW’s driver, 39-year-old Joseph Kyle Massey of Rancho Santa Margarita, both died at the scene. A girl riding in Massey’s BMW, reported to be 7 years old, was taken to a hospital for treatment.
According to Patch, CHP Officer Joseph Rodriguez said Herrera’s SUV was headed the wrong direction on the freeway when it struck Massey’s sedan head-on, and KTLA reported that investigators have not yet said whether drugs or alcohol were a factor. The circumstances that put Herrera’s vehicle traveling against traffic on the 241 remain under investigation. CHP has not released further details on the girl’s condition or on how long the freeway’s southbound lanes stayed closed during the investigation. No charges have been announced, and the case remains open pending forensic and toxicology results.
