Santa Barbara Man Identified In Fatal Highway 101 Morning Crash
At around 2 a.m., 34-year-old Julio Pegueros of Santa Barbara was driving a 2001 Ford Ranger northbound on US-101 when the CHP says he crashed into the back of a Granite Construction truck near Bates Rd. The work crew was laying out a cone pattern for a freeway widening project that has been underway for months.
CHP reports, that for an unknown reason, Pegueros entered the lane closure and ran into the back of the Granite vehicle.
Investigators said the pickup truck was pinned in the freeway’s railing. Pegueros died at the scene.
CHP Officer Eric Martinez said, “We discovered a blue Ford Ranger had struck a Granite construction vehicle, which was closing off the number one lane at the time.”
The passenger in the Granite truck was ejected and suffered minor injuries.
The driver did not report any injuries.
One northbound lane of 101 was closed for the investigation for nine hours. Both lanes reopened at 11 a.m.
Drivers said they were in bumper to bumper traffic for over two hours to travel from Camarillo to Carpinteria. Some took the Ojai route on Highway 33 to Highway 150 and it took about 40 minutes.
Drivers who left the freeway to use Highway 1 along the coast were jammed up when they tried to return to the freeway and faced a back up as bad as the one they left on the highway.
CHP, Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Deputies, American Medical Response Personnel and the Carpinteria Fire Department responded on scene.
The investigation is ongoing and it is not known if alcohol or drugs were factors in the collision.
On August 27, a teenager died in nearly the same spot after entering the freeway the wrong way. That accident with a semi tanker truck caused another lengthy backup and investigation.
