Car misses freeway ramp in Oceanside

At around 1:00 p.m. on September 29, other drivers must have seen the car careen off the freeway near the west end of Hwy. 78 just before the transition ramp to northbound I-5. Otherwise, the mid-1980s Toyota Cressida probably wouldn't have been noticed for days, if ever.

The car came to rest behind, and under, heavy shrubbery, completely blocked from the view of passing motorists. When the CHP arrived, along with a tow truck, the only clue to the car’s whereabouts were several sections of damaged fence.

To remove the vehicle, the tow-truck operator had to cut out an undamaged section of fence over 30 feet away from damaged fence, where the vehicle had stopped. The vehicle could only be seen from 15 feet above the shrubbery, if one stood at the edge of an unused section of parking lot on the west end of the Vista Way Walmart.

When the good Samaritan phoned 911, a single driver was reported. But when the CHP arrived, no one was around. The officer onsite said the car was not stolen and was currently registered. The vehicle with a severely damaged front end was towed to the Oceanside CHP office for further investigation.