Edhat Staff
Update by edhat staff
Two people were injured in a head-on vehicle collision on Highway 154 on Tuesday evening.
At 5:23 p.m., Santa Barbara County firefighters and a ground ambulance responded to the area just below W. Camino Cielo. They discovered two vehicles had collided with one patient in each car.
One person sustained critical injuries and the other sustained minor injuries. Both were treated at the scene and transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital via ground ambulance.
A minor fire was extinguished from one vehicle following the collision but no extrication of the patients was required, said Fire Captian Daniel Bertucelli.
Highway 154 was closed for a short time as the vehicles were blocking both sides of the roadway.
Photo: SBCFD
Reported by Scanner Andrew
CHP, AMR, and county fire are responding to a reported head on traffic collision on Hwy 154 at W Camino Cielo. One person reportedly dead. Black sedan vs silver sedan. Patient in the silver sedan cannot get out of the vehicle, needing extrication.
It seems like a lot of people here are attributing all the accidents that occur on the 154 to poor driving practices. I think virtually any accident can be blamed on a driver’s actions one way or another. Blaming drivers is not going to make the 154 safer. Advocating for everyone to slow down and be more careful seems a lot like advocating for abstinence. It would work in theory, but we are all human. I think we need to investigate how to improve the road in order to make it safer, knowing that drivers will continue to be human.
In Australia they have quite a few cameras set up that are spaced X number of kilometers apart…if you reach camera B too fast they send you a ticket. That being said there should be more speed traps and patrols on 154 (is it a bad time to acknowledge this would cost money and would yes entail a bit more funding for the police). Also tickets should be given to people going 40 mph as well as those going 70 mph.
We do need police reform! Let’s start by making the police union quite a bit less strong, as like the teachers union they are a nuisance/problem that make it next to impossible to deal with problematic cops (or teachers!). The irony though is that it entails the exact opposite of “defunding”…we need MORE funding that can then be channeled towards additional training and the presence of more specialized individuals responding when/where appropriate.
You have aggressive drivers – some of who drive fast but competently – and the accidents are not caused by them. If you cause an accident such as a head on, your license should be history for at least two years. If you are involved and at-fault when on your phone, you should lose your license for at least one year. Period. No fines. No negotiations. I’ve seen fast drivers that are careful drivers. The folks causing accidents are usually driving with stupidity – like fast near the crest of SM Pass. Plain dumb and dangerous. I don’t get in a twist about someone who drives quickly – maybe even over the limit – so long as it’s done carefully. Those who want to hop into a vehicle and pay no attention to the driving should be off the road. Simple.
I take this road daily to and from work. People are jerks and they don’t know how to drive. I was right behind this accident and I can only assume someone was on their phone. People need to learn to slow down. There are a lot of big trucks/work trucks that drive very slow and people get impatient. Have I, yes, for sure. It can be a safe road if people respected the limit. But they need to take the trucks OFF this pass. It’s terrible.
10:42: Please state where I blamed trucks for these decisions? Remember the truck that came barreling down the 154 and crashed into the apartments? I never blamed trucks.