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A man and a woman were killed early Friday when their car struck a tree on Burbank Boulevard in Encino, Los Angeles police said. The crash happened around 2 a.m. near Balboa Avenue, and both people were declared dead at the scene. They were the only occupants of the vehicle, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The victims were described as a man and a woman who appeared to be in their 20s or 30s. As of Monday, April 27, 2026, their names had not been released pending notification of next of kin. The single-vehicle collision left the white car badly mangled, with video from the scene showing the vehicle nearly split in two by the tree.
LAPD investigators are still working to determine what led up to the crash. Police have not said whether speed, impairment, or mechanical failure played a role. The posted speed limit on that portion of Burbank Boulevard is 35 mph, but people who live in the area say speeding and serious crashes are common, especially overnight.
Resident Frankie Andrew said the sounds of impacts are all too familiar. “It sounds like an airplane is crashing in our backyard,” he said. “Then we’ll walk out here and see people dead in their cars, upside down, bleeding out, you name it.”
Andrew estimated that he has seen at least 16 crashes at the exact same spot over the years, with many ending in death or serious injury. He was not the only neighbor to describe the scene as a recurring problem. The latest fatal collision, he said, was not a shock.
Firefighters and paramedics responded to Burbank Boulevard after receiving calls about the crash. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department arrived to find that the tree had caused catastrophic damage to the car’s frame. No other vehicles were involved, and no one else was injured.
The circumstances that caused the car to leave the roadway remain unclear. Investigators were seen taking photographs and measuring skid marks in the hours after the crash, but police offered few additional details in their initial update.
The double fatality underscores a broader safety issue along tree-lined thoroughfares in Los Angeles. Fixed-object collisions — crashes involving trees, poles, walls, and guardrails — are among the deadliest types of single-vehicle wrecks. National traffic safety data consistently shows that severe injury and death are more likely when a vehicle strikes a rigid roadside object.
Roadside trees are valued in many neighborhoods for shade and aesthetics, but they also create unforgiving hazards when drivers lose control. In Encino, mature trees line parts of Burbank Boulevard close to the curb, leaving drivers with little room for error after leaving the travel lane.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the victims’ identities once family members have been notified. Meanwhile, LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division is handling the investigation. Detectives are expected to review any available security camera footage from nearby businesses and homes.
Anyone with information about the crash or the moments leading up to it has been urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division. The department has not yet said whether toxicology tests will be performed, though such testing is standard in fatal collisions where impairment is suspected.
For people living along Burbank Boulevard, Friday’s collision was another entry in a long list of roadside tragedies. Some said they have complained for years about dangerous driving and called for more enforcement, speed bumps, and increased lighting. They said the 35 mph limit means little when drivers treat the wide, straight road as a late-night speedway.
“At some point, people are going to stop counting crashes and start asking why nothing has changed,” one neighbor said. No formal response from the city had been announced as of this writing.
The exact stretch where Friday’s crash occurred has been singled out by longtime residents as a repeat trouble spot. Even when the road is quiet, neighbors said, the sound of an engine accelerating at night is enough to make them brace for the worst.
The white car involved in the crash was found wrapped around the base of the tree. Emergency crews remained at the scene for several hours, closing part of Burbank Boulevard while officers documented the wreckage. The roadway was eventually reopened, but the evidence of the collision remained on the tree for all passing drivers to see.
Police said details about how the car ended up on the tree had not been established. Witnesses who heard the impact said there was little they could do in the dark. The crash occurred in a mixed residential-commercial corridor near Balboa Avenue, and the early-morning hour meant few people were outside.
LAPD officials described the crash as a fatal traffic collision and said the deaths were not initially being treated as criminal. That could change if the investigation uncovers evidence of reckless driving or other factors, they noted.
As of Monday, no memorial had been formally organized, but neighbors said it was likely that flowers and notes would appear at the base of the tree in the coming days. The double death has also renewed conversations about traffic calming measures along Burbank Boulevard, a corridor used by commuters heading between the San Fernando Valley and other parts of Los Angeles.
Citywide, pedestrian and motorist safety has become a pressing issue. Los Angeles has adopted “Vision Zero” goals aimed at eliminating traffic deaths, but stretches like the one in Encino show that progress remains uneven. Residents say a traffic study is long overdue.
What is known is straightforward: a man and a woman died after their car slammed into a tree in Encino. They were the only people in the vehicle. The crash occurred on Burbank Boulevard near Balboa Avenue just after 2 a.m. Friday. Police have not released names, and the investigation is ongoing.
Until more details emerge, the focus stays on the human toll of a collision that residents say was waiting to happen. It is the kind of incident that leaves a neighborhood shaken and asking whether another life will have to be lost before the road is made safer.
