Loved ones are devastated after a woman was killed when a loose tire from another car struck her vehicle on the 60 Freeway in Pomona.
Ingrid Zapata, 57, of Moreno Valley, was headed to work as a school bus driver after dropping off her friends at Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 11.
As she drove on the 60 Freeway, a rear tire from a 1995 GMC pickup truck detached from the car on the westbound lanes. The runaway tire crossed the center divider and onto the eastbound lanes, where it smashed into Zapata’s windshield.
The sudden impact caused Zapata to lose control of her sedan as she veered across freeway lanes before crashing into a metal guardrail near the Garey Avenue off-ramp. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The truck driver, Steven Hernandez, 57, of Rosemead, was uninjured.
Zapata’s family is struggling to understand the circumstances of what they described as a freak accident.
“None of us understand it,” said Kimberly Paiz, Zapata’s daughter. “We’re all still kind of in shock.”
California Highway Patrol is investigating the collision as the family remains desperate for answers.
“They’re trying to see if there’s negligence on the part of the truck owner or if there was negligence on the part of any mechanic work that had been done to the truck,” Paiz explained.
As friends, family and community members mourn Zapata’s death, she is being remembered as a loving mother of three children and a woman of faith who enjoyed volunteering her time to help others.
“That’s what I want people to know about her,” Paiz said. “How big of a person she was, how big her heart was and how selfless she was.”
A GoFundMe page to help Zapata’s family with funeral expenses can be found here.
The crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the incident can call Officer J. Wang at the CHP Baldwin Park Area Office at 626-517-8500.
The post Southern California woman killed after loose tire smashes into her car appeared first on KTLA.
