Edhat StaffA traffic collision killed a 23-year-old woman from Mission Viejo on Highway 101 near Olive Mill early Saturday morning.
California Highway Patrol reports the incident took place in the southbound lanes near the Olive Mill Road off-ramp around 1:40 a.m.
It was a single vehicle collision where a 31-year-old Mission Viejo man driving a 2017 Hyundai left the roadway and traveled down an embankment striking a streetlight and a tree.
The driver sustained major injuries while the female passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. Both occupants were wearing their seatbelts.
The full California Highway Patrol report is available below.
The problem is dangerous drivers and the amount of trucks and commuter traffic limited to 2 lanes. Would be cool if there was a 3rd lane just for trucks going 101 southbound between goleta and highway 1 interchange.
A single vehicle veered off the road and crashed, with driver not wearing a seat belt, and dangerous drivers, trucks, and commuter traffic are to blame?
They may not to be directly to blame, but a third lane would help. The 101 is a major highway and two lanes is unsafe.
Mattyboy – before you jump to blame the victim again, think…. is it possible the driver veered off to avoid colliding with a dangerous reckless driver? The answer is “yes.”
May not be? This was a single passenger vehicle accident where the person wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. I’d say it’s completely unrelated.
I drive this route 5 days a week on both northbound and southbound and would consider a driver that veered off the road to be dangerous. Have you seen how people drive on this stretch of highway? High quality of drivers wanting to go 85 mph, High quality of tailgaters when they can’t go 80, high quality of tractor trailers. The road is dangerous.
And a another collision just occurred 101 northbound, north side of the tunnel. Is the road dangerous yet?
MILLIMESA. Did you mean to write high “quantity?” Not “quality,” right?
Yes. You’re risking your life each and every time you drive on a highway/freeway now. It amazes me how people are so trusting of other drivers.
I agree with Bodyboarder. That bridge crossing is super narrow and if a semi is next to you and barely swerves, they’re in your lane and you have no where to go.
Since none of us were there, we don’t actually know what caused the driver to veer. We do know that some people drive those curves like they’re in in the Indy 500. I do still see speedsters who are going too fast to keep in their own lane on the curves. I give the benefit of the doubt to the person who suffered in the crash. It’s terrible for his family.
This area has a dirt causeway, plenty ample with wide medians on both sides and in the middle. There is no “bridge”. The canyon was filled in in the 50’s and 60’s to make a modern freeway crossing, although it does plunge down the hill and up. People sometimes use the extra down slope to increase speed in this area, making it treacherous.
Very sad. Maybe the full graphic photos of these accidents/injuries/causes should be widely distributed. As a kid, my dad had “Highway Patrol” magazines out for his teenage children to thumb through because there was always a large section that had many disgusting photos of accidents and the carnage, and explanations of how/why it happened. My siblings and I are now middle age, but none of us every got in an accident (knock on wood) and we are all avid drivers. Scared straight and it worked. It educated us. People need to SEE the results of what inattention to your circumstances (speed, weather, road conditions, proximity to others) does. Bring on the photos.
Millimesa et al. The problem is drivers who insist on speeding through the area. The road is well-designed. A third lane is unnecessary.