Deadly stretch of highway claims another life

Boy, 9, dies; traffc light to be installed at Balcom Canyon



TREACHEROUS—Highway 118 west of Moorpark was closed in both directions the morning of Aug. 10 after a multi-vehicle crash killed a 9-year-old boy and sent three others to the hospital. Gasoline from the tanker truck spilled across the roadway; hazmat crews were called in to clean up the fuel. Courtesy of VCFD

TREACHEROUS—Highway 118 west of Moorpark was closed in both directions the morning of Aug. 10 after a multi-vehicle crash killed a 9-year-old boy and sent three others to the hospital. Gasoline from the tanker truck spilled across the roadway; hazmat crews were called in to clean up the fuel. Courtesy of VCFD

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

The victim, a 9-year-old boy from Somis, died after the vehicle he was riding 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 highway. 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 female driver of the sedan, 45-year-old Veronica Viveros, and her two children, a 9-year-old boy and 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 9-year-old 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 into the crash.

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 at gofundme.com/medicalcosts for-the-arroyo-family, has a fundraising goal of $25,000.

Dangerous highway

This is not 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 an accident 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.

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

“If there is a project that is going to come through the pipeline for this section of 118, the CHP report on 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.”