Driver Richard Pananian dies after landing on freeway sign in rollover crash

A Califoia driver who police say was driving recklessly was ejected from his vehicle and landed on a road sign at least 20 feet above the ground. 

Richard Pananian, 20, of Burbank, Califoia, was killed in the acciden,t which occurred around 7 a.m., according to KTLA.

Pananian was seen driving his Ford Fiesta at a high rate of speed before hitting the rear of a pickup truck and overtuing multiple times, according to KTLA. Pananian was thrown about 20 feet into the air, landing on an exit ramp sign overhead, according to KTLA.

Shocking: The body of a driver ejected when his car rolled over several times on southbound Interstate 5 is seen where it landed on an overhead freeway sign north of downtown Los Angeles Friday moing

 

Scene: Firefighters use a ladder truck to remove the body of a 20-year-old man who landed on a freeway sign after he was ejected from a vehicle during a fatal crash in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, on Friday moing

Pananian was not believed to be wearing his seatbelt, according to KTLA.

“Any time you speed and you don't wear your seat belt, there's a good chance you're going to get hurt, if not killed," Edgar Figueroa, a Califoia Highway Patrol officer on the scene, said to KTLA.

A white sheet was draped over Pananian’s body on the sign's catwalk for several hours until coroners could arrive, according to KTLA.