Crash kills boy; mother, sister gravely injured




AFTERMATH—While members of thefire department look on, a worker drills a hole into the tanker of an 18-wheeler to drain the gas from inside. The tractor-trailer was carrying about 8,000 gallons of fuel when it collided with a car turning onto Highway 118 outside Moorpark on Aug. 10. Courtesy of Caltrans

AFTERMATH—While members of the fire department look on, a worker drills a hole into the tanker of an 18-wheeler to drain the gas from inside. The tractor-trailer was carrying about 8,000 gallons of fuel when it collided with a car turning onto Highway 118 outside Moorpark on Aug. 10. Courtesy of Caltrans

A notoriously dangerous highway claimed the life of another Ventura County resident this week.

The victim, a 9-year-old boy from Somis, died after the vehicle he was a passenger in collided with a tractor-trailer shortly before 8 a.m. Aug. 10 along Highway 118 at Balcom Canyon Road outside Moorpark.

The collision sent three others to the hospital and shut down the two-lane highway in both directions for nearly 16 hours.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the crash occurred when a 2014 Chevrolet sedan attempted to turn left from Balcom Canyon onto the eastbound 118.

As the gray sedan crossed both lanes of the 118, it collided with a double-tanker Peterbilt truck traveling west on the 118. The collision caused both vehicles to spin out on the roadway, and the tractor-trailer—carrying about 8,000 gallons of gasoline—to roll on its side.

The driver of the sedan, Veronica Viveros, 45, and her two children, a 9-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, all suffered life-threatening injuries and were taken to Los Robles Regional Medical Center after the crash.

“The 7-year-old was ejected out of the back seat,” California Highway Patrol Officer Marco Marin said of the girl, who suffered trauma to her head and lower limbs. “She was not wearing a seat belt.”

The boy, who was in the back seat behind his mother and wearing a seat belt at the time of crash, died at the hospital.

The driver of the semi-tanker, 65-year-old Moises Macias of Los Angeles, was taken to St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital with moderate injuries, the CHP said.

A hazmat investigation followed the crash because the tanker spilled about 1,200 gallons of gasoline onto the two-lane highway. Multiple agencies, including the Ventura County Fire Department, Ventura County Environmental Health Department, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Caltrans and American Medical Response, helped with the cleanup and investigation.

As crews worked to clear the collision, CHP closed both lanes of the 118 from Tierra Rejada Road in Moorpark to Somis Road in Somis. Officials also closed Balcom Canyon Road at Stockton Road.

The roadways were reopened that night at 11:30. However, the 118 was reduced to one lane the following day as Caltrans worked until 12:30 p.m. to repair the highway’s damaged guardrail.

Dave Arroyo, a relative of Viveros, started a GoFundMe page for the mother and her daughter to help pay their medical bills. The campaign, found at gofundme.com/medical-costsfor the-arroyo-family, has a fundraising goal of $25,000.

Dangerous highway

This isn’t the first time a driver has been seriously injured or killed while traveling on Highway 118 between Moorpark and Ventura.

In February, multiple people were injured after a head-on collision along the two-lane road.

A year earlier, a Virginia man was killed after he drifted into oncoming traffic and his car collided with a semi-truck. The crash closed the 118 for five hours.

In February 2015, two serious accidents occurred within weeks of each other when a motorcycle driver collided with a semi-truck and a collision near Grimes Canyon Road injured two.

And in September 2013, a Moorpark woman died after she crossed over traffic on the highway east of Hitch Boulevard.

Michael Comeaux, a public information officer for Caltrans, said the agency plans to review CHP’s report on last week’s fatal crash to determine if the highway could be made safer.

“Caltrans has engineers who are always reviewing any appropriate steps that can be taken on all state highways which are under Caltrans jurisdiction, so that will happen here also,” he said.

The report, Comeaux said, will also be used as Caltrans designs and develops projects on highways in Ventura County.

“This very unfortunate incident can be taken into account as engineers and designers review what steps might be appropriate,” Comeaux said.

One of the projects is to install a traffic signal at Balcom Canyon Road, which was put out for bids earlier this year.

“The low bid was significantly higher than expected, so Caltrans is reworking the project and will advertise it for bids again,” Comeaux said. “If the low bid is within the programmed amount, construction could begin in 2019; however, Caltrans is attempting to speed up that schedule.”