California Highway Patrol identifies woman killed in violent Highway 1 crash

—UPDATE—

The California Highway Patrol has identified the woman killed in Monday’s crash on Highway 1 as 66-year-old Lompoc resident Elaine A. Ventura.

Ventura died when she, for unknown reasons, made an “unsafe turning movement” and allowed her 1996 Toyota 4Runner to drift into the southbound lane of Highway 1 and directly into the path of a Ford van being driven by 47-year-old Juan Romero Jr. of Santa Barbara, CHP said.

Romero was flown to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with major injuries. The CHP collision report lists his injuries as trauma to the arms, legs, and body.

The deadly crash closed down Highway 1 in both directions for approximately three and a half hours, while authorities conducted their investigation.

At about 7 p.m. Monday, CHP reopened Highway 1. It’s unknown if alcohol or drugs played a part in the collision. The investigation is ongoing.

ORIGINAL STORY

Emergency responders are on scene of a deadly head-on crash on Highway 1 near San Julian Ranch south of Lompoc.

The crash was reported shortly after 3:30 p.m. a few miles south of Jalama Road. A woman and a small dog were killed on impact.

The California Highway Patrol is reporting both lanes of Highway 1 are closed due to the crash.

A van with Santa Barbara Locksmiths decals was traveling southbound on Highway 1 and a Toyota 4Runner was traveling northbound at the time of the collision, according to Santa Barbara County Fire Spokesman Mike Eliason.

The driver of the van suffered major injuries and was flown to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, said Eliason.

Crews worked to extricate the woman in the 4Runner and her dog as the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Coroner arrived on scene.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/sbsheriff/status/1041831660138852352″,”author_name”:”SB Sheriff’s Office”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/sbsheriff”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Head on collision on HWY 1‼️ Lanes closed in both directions. Please avoid the area and use alternative routes. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/sbsheriff?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#sbsheriff&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– SB Sheriff’s Office (@sbsheriff) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/sbsheriff/status/1041831660138852352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;September 17, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the CHP. It’s not known how long Highway 1 will be closed to traffic. The Sheriff’s Office has asked motorists to avoid that area.

No further details were immediately known. Check back for updates.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/CHP_SantaBarb/status/1041833405900480512″,”author_name”:”Santa Barbara CHP”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/CHP_SantaBarb”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;State Route 1 is closed between Lompoc and US 101 (Las Cruces Area) following a motor vehicle collision near the El Jaro Creek Bridge.&#lt;br&#gt;&#lt;br&#gt;There is no estimate when SR-1 will re-open.&#lt;br&#gt;&#lt;br&#gt;Motorists are advised to use State Route 246 between Buellton and Lompoc as a detour.&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/CBuellton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@CBuellton&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/JQzQVh4euF”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/JQzQVh4euF&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Santa Barbara CHP (@CHP_SantaBarb) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/CHP_SantaBarb/status/1041833405900480512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;September 17, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}