2 Accidents Tie Up East County Traffic

Two drivers who lost control of their vehicles and ran off separate Ventura County freeways snarled traffic in the east county for several hours Thursday, officials said.

Heavy fog, which cut morning visibility to less than 100 feet in some locations, was at least partially responsible for the first collision, said Officer Dave Webb of the California Highway Patrol.

The tie-up on the northbound Ventura Freeway near the top of the Conejo Grade occurred about 9:40 a.m., Webb said.

Cynthia Pinzon, 28, of Thousand Oaks, was driving a 1993 Jeep when it skidded across a slick section of the freeway and overturned, Webb said.

“The fog was pretty thick out there this morning,” Webb said. “With the changing of the seasons, the fog and the wet roadways will play a part in crashes. People need to be a bit more patient.”

It took CHP officers nearly 90 minutes to clear debris from the entire roadway. Officers were able to upright the Jeep with a patrol car and then push it off the freeway, Webb said, adding that Pinzon was treated at the scene for minor injuries and released.

Four hours later, a big rig carrying a load of onions on the eastbound Ronald Reagan Freeway near Tapo Canyon Road skidded off the roadway, hit a tree and overturned, forcing all eastbound lanes to close for more than an hour, Webb said.

Witnesses told investigators the big rig was traveling the posted speed limit of 55 mph for tractor-trailers when it went off the freeway, Webb said. CHP investigators have not determined why the big rig went out of control.

The driver, Travis King, 35, of Clarksville, Ark., was taken to Simi Valley Hospital where he was treated for a concussion and released, Webb said.

Thursday was a busy day in what has, so far, been an unusually slow month on Ventura County freeways, Webb said.

Each month, local CHP officers respond to about 350 crashes--mostly on the Ventura Freeway between La Conchita and Westlake, Webb said.

He said collisions have been down from earlier in the summer, when there were many serious crashes and several fatalities.