California Highway Patrol

On September 4, 2008 at approximately 10:40 a.m., a fatal traffic collision involving two vehicles and three freeway maintenance workers occurred on SR-126 westbound, just east of the Edwards Ranch Road over crossing.

Steven R. Higgins, 49 years of age from Ojai, was driving a flatbed truck with a pull trailer, westbound on SR-126 in the right lane, just east of the Edwards Ranch Road over crossing. For unknown reasons, the vehicle swerved from the right lane and onto the right shoulder where it traveled over a raised asphalt curb. Higgins attempted to regain control and overcorrected his vehicle. The truck then swerved to the left and traveled back toward the fast lane where it struck a Mercedes Benz, driven by Marvin Chandler, 42 years of age, from Las Vegas, Nevada. The impact caused Chandler’s vehicle to travel out of control into the right traffic lane. The truck and trailer combination traveled out of control toward the center median where a maintenance crew, under the supervision of Cal-Trans, was actively working. Higgins was unable to stop as the truck and trailer combination struck three of the workers who were in the median. After striking the workers, both the truck and trailer flipped onto their right sides and came to rest, blocking both the center median and the left traffic lane.

Emergency personnel from the Ventura County Fire Department and the California Highway Patrol arrived on scene shortly after. One of the maintenance workers, whose name was not yet releasable, was pronounced deceased at the scene. A second worker, identified as Felipe Reyes, 29 years of age, suffered critical injuries including a severed leg. He was later airlifted to the Ventura County Medical Center. The third worker, identified as Matt Turnquist, 23 years of age, suffered minor to moderate injuries. The remaining workers, identified as Brock Dozier and Chris Stalsworth, were able to avoid the collision and were uninjured. Both Mr. Higgins and Mr. Chandler were transported to local hospitals and suffered only minor injuries.

SR- 126 westbound was closed between Briggs Road and Edwards Ranch Road for several hours while a Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) from the California Highway Patrol conducted an evaluation of the collision scene. The cause of the collision is still under investigation at this point in time.

Regional news about the accident on Thursday, September 4th.