Collision on 101 Sends SUV Plummeting off Cliff
Both Passengers Survive Fall, Transported to Cottage Hospital
At 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29, CHP officers responded to a call regarding a three-car collision on the southbound lanes of Highway 101, just north of the Evans Avenue exit in Summerland.
When officers arrived, they found two cars on the side of the road, and an SUV that had plummeted a hundred feet over the edge of the cliff, flipped, and landed on its roof.
The overturned vehicle was occupied by Carpinteria resident Etelina Figueroa, 58, and an 8-year-old-female passenger. According to a repor on the accident from CHP spokesperson Officer Dan Barba, Figueroa was driving in the left lane of the highway when her SUV was struck from behind by a van being driven by Ventura resident Patrick Joerger, 23, of Ventura. The force of the collision caused Figueroa’s vehicle to cross over the right lane of traffic before finally going over the cliff itself.
Barba’s narrative of the accident continued that Joerger also lost control of his van and veered into the right lane, striking a vehicle that had a wood chipper in tow and was driven by Ventura resident Nicolas Pinedo, 47. Both vehicles came to a stop at the right shoulder of the road.
Figueroa, her passenger, and Pinedo were taken to Cottage Hospital for complaints of pain and other injuries. Pinedo has been treated and released, while Figueroa has been admitted for observation, Joerger also sustained minor injuries.
Barba ended his report on the incident by stating that Figueroa and her young passenger’s lives were spared because they were wearing seatbelts.
