Escaped horses roam onto Corona freeway - California

About a dozen left Hart Ranch and another property before dawn, causing two accidents that left one of the animals dead and three motorists with minor injuries. A herd of horses trotted onto the 91 Freeway in Corona early Monday, causing two collisions that killed one of the animals, forced authorities to close the road for roughly five hours and left three motorists with minor injuries.

The horses, about a dozen in all, escaped from Hart Ranch and a neighboring property and bolted several hundred yards in the predawn darkness to the freeway, near Green River Road, said Donna Hart, co-owner of the ranch.

She said the animals apparently escaped through a hole in her fence. The fence had been checked Saturday and was in good condition, Hart said.

In the past, she said, hikers have cut the wire to get onto the property. She said the same thing may have happened again.

"We get a lot of people coming through here," she said.

The ranch, which has about 100 horses and offers horseback riding, is on about 300 acres of hills and grazing land adjacent to the freeway, Hart said.

As the horses ran on the eastbound lanes, a driver traveling about 65 mph struck and killed one of the animals about 3:20 a.m., the California Highway Patrol said.

The impact caused the driver to lose control of his vehicle and smash into the center divider.

The driver, described only as a 55-year-old Fullerton resident, suffered minor injuries and was treated at Riverside Community Hospital, the CHP said.

A second car swerved around the dead horse and smashed into the back of a third vehicle. The motorists, both 55, suffered minor injuries and were treated at the Riverside hospital, according to the CHP.

Traffic was snarled for several hours as ranch workers, aided by the CHP, rounded up the stray horses. Hart said the workers were able to run up to the animals and lead them off the freeway.

"They were pretty easy to catch. They knew they were in the wrong place at the wrong time," Hart said.

The freeway was reopened about 9 a.m., the CHP said.

By Monday afternoon, Hart said, workers had repaired the hole in the fence and built a second barricade as an added measure.

"It could have been a lot worse," she said. "Hopefully, it will never happen again."