Road incident deaths in California

Johnny Mantz (September 18, 1918 – October 25, 1972) was an American racecar driver.

Leo Ford (born Leo John Hilgeford; July 5, 1957 – July 17, 1991) was an American pornographic actor who appeared in gay pornographic films and bisexual pornographic movies and magazines in the 1980s. He was born in Dayton, Ohio.

Gene Louis O'Quin (or Oquin) (September 9, 1932 – November 27, 1978) was an American country and western and honky tonk singer born in Dallas on September 9, 1932 He established himself professionally at Dallas' Big "D" Jamboree, a Grand Ole Opry-like radio showcase, becoming one of its most popular entertainers. O'Quin recorded his first song at the age of 15 and was signed by Capitol Records.He later relocated to California. His recording career reached its peak between 1950 and 1955.
O'Quin's voice was high and nasally and had a twang evocative of Little Jimmy Dickens. He cut many novelty songs and boogie-woogie records. The persona in his records was happy-go-lucky and well suited to hillbilly music. Although he did not record any rockabilly songs in his career, rockabilly enthusiasts have embraced him. His career was eclipsed with the advent of rock and roll but he did not successfully make the transition as rockabilly artists did.
O'Quin died when his car was hit by a bus in Riverside, California on November 27, 1978.

Allan Verne Cox (December 17, 1926 – January 27, 1987) was an American geophysicist. His work on dating geomagnetic reversals, with Richard Doell and Brent Dalrymple, made a major contribution to the theory of plate tectonics. Allan Cox won numerous awards, including the prestigious Vetlesen Prize, and was the president of the American Geophysical Union. He was the author of over a hundred scientific papers, and the author or editor of two books on plate tectonics. On January 27, 1987, Cox died in an apparent suicide.

Steven Gregory Stayner (April 18, 1965 – September 16, 1989) was an American kidnapping victim. On December 4, 1972, seven-year-old Stayner was abducted in Merced, California, by child molester Kenneth Parnell. He was held by his abductor 38 miles (61 km) away in Mariposa County, California, and later in Mendocino County, California, until he was aged 14, when he managed to escape with another of Parnell's victims, five-year-old Timothy White.