Atascadero woman identified as victim of fatal crash
August 14, 2026
By JOSH FRIEDMAN
The CHP has identified as 58-year-old Atascadero woman as the victim of a fatal crash along Highway 41 on Wednesday as Gemma Salting.
Shortly before 7 a.m., Phill Peterson was towing a trailer on Highway 41 between Morro Bay and Atascadero. A large piece of equipment dislodged from the trailer into the southbound lane of the highway by Toro Creek Road, according to the CHP.
Salting was driving a gray pickup truck in the southbound lane when she hit the equipment, lost control, went 20 feet down an embankment and collided with a tree. Emergency personnel arrived and extricated Salting, whom they pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
Peterson kept driving until he could safely turn around and return to the scene.
An investigation into the fatal crash remains ongoing. Investigators do not suspect drugs or alcohol factored into the collision.
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