Local : 1 Dead in Orange County Crash

SANTA ANA —  Orange County had one traffic death during the five-day Christmas holiday period that ended at midnight Tuesday, law officials said today. Officers said the Christmas-traffic fatality rate this year is obviously low given that the county has more than 2 million residents.

The Orange County coroner’s office said the sole traffic death during the five-day period was on Saturday. Deputy William King said a 19-year-old Fountain Valley youth lost control of his car while southbound on the San Diego Freeway near the Magnolia Street on-ramp. King said the car struck a call box, and the driver, Major J. Johnson, was fatally injured.

Despite thousands of vehicles on the county’s freeways, highways and surface streets, there were relatively few major traffic accidents during the holiday period, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol.