Fatal head-on Highway 101 collision

February 20, 2015

CHP@Two people were killed after a wrong-way driver crashed his truck into a sedan on Highway 101 just south of the San Luis Obispo County line in Santa Barbara County.

Shortly before 1 p.m., a man driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup entered the freeway on the Broadway southbound exit headed northbound. He then crashed into a Ford Fiesta with a female and male passenger inside.

The driver of the truck died at the scene.

The passengers of the sedan were transported to Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria where the male driver died. His female passenger was treated for major injuries.

CHP officers shut down southbound Highway 101 for about two and a half hours.


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I’ve been confused before. He just turned before the overpass and not after it.


Two questions. How did the wrong way driver get on the highway going the wrong direction, and why is it taking so long to identify the victims when they were driving cars with license plates (supposedly registered) and likely had ID with them (drivers’ licenses?).


If relatives are in another country, I think that tentative identification should be made. Are we really required to chase all over the US and in other countries to find the next of kin in order to ID people who have died in our own community. Is it required by law or just a courtesy.


Where is it possible for someone to get on the freeway going the wrong direction. Did this person have a driver’s license? Was he unable to read highway signs?