Highway 101 Accidents Claim Two Lives

In less than 24 hours, two separate accidents on Santa Barbara’s stretch of Highway 101 resulted in the death of an involved motorist.

A 58-year-old Lakewood woman died April 27 as a result of injuries she sustained when her vehicle veered off the southbound lanes of Highway 101 just north of El Capitan State Beach. CHP Officer Matt Kenny arrived at the scene around 10:30 a.m. and performed first aid on the woman and a 60-year-old male passenger of a Chevy Outlander that drifted off the road to the right, turned onto its side, and then crashed into a utility pole not far from the Union Pacific railroad tracks that run along the highway. Both passengers were trapped in the vehicle. The woman was declared dead at the scene. The man, also a Lakewood resident, was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

CHP spokesman Officer Dan Barba said a routine toxicology test will determine whether drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident.

A 42-year-old man died Monday morning as a result of injuries he sustained in a collision with a vehicle at about 8:30 a.m. on the northbound lanes of Highway 101. California Highway Patrol officers arrived at the scene of the crash and pronounced the man dead. According to a statement from the CHP, the accident resulted from a 40-year-old woman driving a 2006 Nissan Altima braking hard in anticipation of upcoming traffic, causing her brakes to lock and causing her car to slide into the center divider just south of the El Sueno Road exit. The motorcyclist, who was following behind her and was wearing a helmet, also braked but ended up broadsiding the Altima. The driver of the Altima was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with what the CHP release called “unknown injuries.” Two of the three northbound lanes of Highway 101 were closed for approximately an hour this morning as a result of accident clean-up and investigation.

CHP did not name either of the people involved in the accident.

CORRECTION: This article erroneously stated that the deceased motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. This has since been corrected.