Car-mageddon Hits Highway 101 in Santa Barbara County

Series of Traffic Collisions on Rainy Tuesday Slows Traffic and Shuts Down Freeway and Railroads

A MarBorg truck rolled over on Highway 101 near Sheffield Drive in the Montecito area on Tuesday afternoon, November 26, 2024, shutting down northbound lanes. | Credit: Caltrans

One traffic collision after another hit Highway 101 on Tuesday, backing up traffic, causing multiple freeway closures, and shutting down railways.

The rainy day saw multiple crashes, including a MarBorg garbage truck that overturned in a collision south of Sheffield Drive in Montecito. The truck crashed into the northbound highway’s concrete barriers and caused a full closure of northbound lanes, diverting traffic at Sheffield Drive.

As of 5:38 p.m., the closure had ended and the roadway was open. However, traffic was still significantly slowed from Carpinteria through Santa Barbara due to the halting combination of rush hour and a series of traffic incidents — the overturned garbage truck, which was reported by California Highway Patrol at 1:03 p.m., marked the sixth of the day in the region but not the last.

A woman sustained moderate injuries and was transported to Cottage Hospital after her Toyota 4-Runner plunged 30 feet down the side of the road just south of the Refugio exit on Tuesday morning. | Credit: CHP

Starting off Tuesday’s car-mageddon was a Toyota 4Runner, which veered off the road just south of the Refugio exit on Highway 101 around 9:30 a.m. The vehicle plunged 30 feet down the side of the road, coming to a rest on a bike path near the train tracks. Emergency services were immediately dispatched to the scene.

The solo adult female driver sustained moderate injuries and was transported by ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Union Pacific closed the adjacent train tracks as they assessed potential damages and ensured the safe resumption of services, which resulted in delays for the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 761 train that travels north to the San Luis Obispo area.

At 10:30 a.m., in Vandenberg Village, a white Toyota Corolla rolled over and crashed into the center divider on Highway 1 south near Constellation Road. Traffic temporarily came to a stop, but the area has since been cleared and all lanes are now open.

Less than an hour later, around 11:24 a.m., a gray Tesla crashed into the center divider of Highway 101 northbound near Linden Avenue in Carpinteria, blocking the #1 lane and backing up traffic in the area. There were no reported injuries, and the lanes have since been cleared.

One man was transported with moderate injuries by ambulance to Cottage ER on Tuesday around 12:30 p.m. after his vehicle rolled off the southbound 101 near El Capitan State Beach and landed on the train tracks. | Credit: Santa Barbara County Fire Department

At around 12:30 p.m., emergency services responded to Highway 101 southbound at El Capitan State Beach for another vehicle rollover. The vehicle landed on the railroad tracks, leading to another closure by Union Pacific. The adult male driver sustained moderate injuries and was transported by ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

At 12:45 p.m., CHP reported a second vehicle accident on Highway 101 near El Capitan Beach, a quarter-mile up the road from the first. The vehicle crashed into the center divider. The solo male driver sustained moderate injuries and refused treatment.

Following the 1 p.m. garbage truck incident, CHP reported multiple accidents on Highway 101 near Refugio State Beach. Around 2:45 p.m., a solo adult male driver lost control of his truck on the freeway and went through a power pole, snapping it in half. The truck rolled multiple times, went down the embankment, and settled across both sets of railroad tracks.

The man was assisted out of the truck and transported by ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with major injuries. Train tracks were closed until 5:01 p.m., when the 140 oceanside tracks were able to resume.

A man traveling southbound on Highway 101 near Refugio Road on Tuesday afternoon suffered major injuries after he lost control of his pickup truck, which snapped a power pole in half before rolling multiple times down an embankment and across both sets of railroad tracks. | Credit: Santa Barbara County Fire Department

Then, around 3 p.m., a motorist called CHP to report a red pickup truck off the roadway on its side in the area, while a Toyota SUV crashed into the center divider and two additional vehicles were pulled over on the right side of the highway.

At 3:41 p.m., a vehicle was reported in a ditch near Toro Canyon, with a tow truck on the way. And, around 5:30 p.m., a white pickup truck was reported blocking the Eastbound Lane on the 192 near Ortega Ridge Road, slowing traffic.

These collisions occurred in the wake of a series of crashes on Saturday, including when a pickup truck crashed into a utility pole on Highway 101 near Las Vara Canyon at 11:27 a.m., rolling over and causing minor injuries to the solo female driver. It shut down all southbound lanes of Highway 101 until Sunday morning, and temporarily closed one northbound lane.

Authorities are advising drivers to use extra caution, especially in rainy weather conditions. They advise reducing speeds and using heightened awareness of road conditions.