Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County
In a tragic incident on Saturday night, a wrong-way collision on Highway 101 in Santa Maria resulted in the loss of at least two lives and led to the closure of the northbound freeway at the city's northern edge. The Santa Maria firefighters and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers rushed to the scene at around 11:30 p.m., near the North Broadway interchange.
The collision involved a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction, causing a wreck that blocked the lanes beneath the North Broadway overpass, as reported by CHP emergency dispatch. Both vehicles were emitting smoke after the collision, requiring extensive extrication efforts to rescue some of the victims, according to emergency dispatch reports.
Due to the debris and the ongoing investigation into the collision, all three northbound lanes were obstructed, forcing authorities to divert northbound traffic off the highway at Donovan Road. The northbound Donovan Road entrance ramp was also closed. Early Sunday, emergency crews estimated that the freeway closure might last several hours.
Details surrounding the incident were limited at the time of reporting. However, this collision marked the third occurrence of a wrong-way driver on Highway 101 in the Central Coast in less than a week.
Previously, on Christmas night, a Santa Barbara resident faced arrest after his pickup truck collided with an oncoming minivan in the northbound lanes near downtown while allegedly driving in the wrong direction. Another wrong-way crash on Highway 101 severely injured a woman on Wednesday when a driver under the influence of drugs struck two cars traveling southbound in San Luis Obispo.
CHP officials announced that the driver in the latter incident, 38-year-old Teodulo Nava Clemente, was arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run and felony DUI. Clemente and two of the three occupants in the minivan sustained critical injuries in the wreck near the Bath Street exit ramp.
Clemente faces multiple charges, including driving under the influence, causing great bodily injury to two people, driving with a blood-alcohol level over 0.20%, driving into oncoming traffic, driving with a suspended and revoked license, and failure to provide proof of financial responsibility for the vehicle. Furthermore, he has been charged with special allegations and enhancements, including having two DUI convictions in the county within the last 10 years.
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