Photo: accident scene
March 20, 2022 – Santa Barbara County, Ca.
The traffic on U.S. Highway 101 between Santa Barbara and Carpinteria, usually a congested mess during daylight hours as a result of CalTrans work that has been ongoing for nearly a full decade, picks up speed after evening rush hour and could challenge the most seasoned Formula One driver by nightfall.
It’s after 8:00 p.m. when those CalTrans crews do most of their work involving periodic K-rail lane movements, blindingly bright work lights, and the movement of massive grading and paving equipment, with trucks constantly moving across open lanes of traffic commonly moving at speeds 20 mph in excess of posted limits.
Those factors, however hazardous, may not have been the causal factor in the fatal collision that took place in the southbound lanes at approximately 2:15 a.m. on the morning of March 18 th .
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, a Nissan sedan being driven by 21-year-old Oxnard resident Jonathan Jair Montoya “crashed into the back of an asphalt dump truck and then veered off the right shoulder” whereupon it slammed into a pair of trees before coming to rest close to the Union Pacific train tracks.
CHP and SBSD first responders found Montoya suffering “major injuries” and promptly had him transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Montoya’s passenger, whose identity is currently being withheld, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the dump truck was uninjured.
Subsequent investigation revealed Montoya had been driving while intoxicated. With that determination, he was booked on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated; he remains hospitalized with bail pending.
Photo: Courtesy California Highway Patrol
