Major Injury Accident Scattered Vehicles Across 101

Battered vehicles litter 101.

Battered vehicles litter 101. [Photo by Mark Nelson]

A multi-vehicle accident near the intersection of 299 on Hwy 101 about 12:08 p.m. caused major injuries today. According to a California Highway Patrol dispatcher speaking over the phone, both outside lanes are open but the number one lanes are closed as of 12:45 p.m.

According to the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page, multiple vehicles were involved including a motorcycle and two cars.

 

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39 Comments
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tax payer
Guest
tax payer
5 years ago

is this accident on both sides of the freeway? and if so how did that happen

Anon
Guest
Anon
5 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

People are rubber neckers and probably caused another accident on the other side trying to see the first accident.

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
5 years ago
Reply to  Anon

i was thinking maybe someone flew over the guard rail

Debra King
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

The guard rail was intact when we drove by, but that was my first thought as well.

physics buff
Guest
physics buff
5 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

Looks like dark car rear-ended white car, either just after or when white car hit guard rail. The rear-end collision rolled the white car over guard rail, but I’m just guessing from details in photo.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

They did go over the gaurd rail. The driver was drunk.

Proud Deplorable Grandma
Guest
Proud Deplorable Grandma
5 years ago

I consider myself very lucky. I drove through right before noon with my two granddaughters. I remember looking at the clock in my daughter’s car that I was driving.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

Lost Coast Outlook mention a motorcycle. I can see that stretch of hwy would be very dangerous for a motorcycle as people feed into 101 from 299 and have a very short space to merge. If a car was going too fast, it might miss seeing the motorcycle or force another person to move left and into one. Under the best of circumstances it’s hard to both take the ramp onto 101 slow enough to be safe and then pick up speed to safely merge before the merge lane ends.

farce
Guest
farce
5 years ago

That’s a terribly dangerous intersection because people drive like morons. The cars coming onto 101 North from 299 don’t have enough straight road to attain highway speed before they merge. I go to the left lane ahead of time to allow them the merge space and am constantly tailgated hard by people who insist on speeding through. I am usually going 60-65 mph at this point. Either these speedy pushers are not local and therefore not familiar with this intersection or they are straight assholes and don’t care. Expect more accidents at this spot as population of careless idiots grows.

Fred
Guest
Fred
5 years ago
Reply to  farce

you merge into the fast lane at 60 mph and consider people who catch up to you assholes? lol, you drive like an old grannie. Just stay 60 mph in the slow lane and people merging will easily go in front or behind your slow ass

Scooter
Guest
Scooter
5 years ago
Reply to  Fred

65 is the maximum speed, not the target speed.

Bozo
Guest
Bozo
5 years ago
Reply to  farce

>”The cars coming onto 101 North from 299 don’t have enough straight road to attain highway speed before they merge”

Yup.

Northbound needs more merge lane.
Also southbound 299 to 101 is a ‘merge lane’ nightmare.

Southbound ‘merge lane’ from Mkinleyville is another (modern) disaster too.

>- You merge into the fast lane at 60 mph and consider people who catch up to you assholes? lol, you drive like an old grannie.

Just stay 60 mph in the slow lane and people merging will easily go in front or behind your slow ass ”

IMHO: Not really.
That depends on the IQ (idiot quotient) of the drivers merging onto the highway.

Connie Dobbs
Guest
Connie Dobbs
5 years ago
Reply to  farce

Lots of busy, important people want to exit at Giuntoli, as well.

Lone ranger
Guest
Lone ranger
5 years ago
Reply to  farce

I see logging trucks merge there at 55 to 60 , no problem if you can drive, cars can easily do 65 on that on ramp,no problem

Moreinfo
Guest
Moreinfo
5 years ago

We saw skids from the beginning of the turn from hwy299 to north hwy101 plough straight into one of the orange turn warning signs, through the grass, then onto northbound hwy101 where there lots of skids, collision. Missed power pole that stops most vehicles.

Craig
Guest
Craig
5 years ago

Accidents happen, best wishes to everyone envoled.

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
5 years ago
Reply to  Craig

Accidents happen more often when you’re drunk, which seems to be the rumor of what happened here…

Drunk driving is never an accident.

Al
Guest
Al
5 years ago

Horrible, maybe we should have permanent dui checkpoints for vehicles throughout the county.

If those entering the highway from the off ramp would yield to the through traffic by slowing down all problems would be solved. If those exiting into the highway are too impatient to yield to the through traffic (which is the law),

then they should get a car that can speed up to a high enough speed fast enough even if that means going over 100mph or more for a few seconds to pass the through traffic.

If people can’t be courteous and wait, they should speed up and get out of each other’s way.

Accidents happen when people tailgate and bottleneck together; vehicles need to alow at least 6 car lengths between their car and another car, larger vehicles need more space between them.

People drive way too fast for their ability around here. Hope everybody is ok.

Mama
Guest
Mama
5 years ago
Reply to  Al

Actually you are not. The law is to enter at hwy or freeway speeds. I was told by CHP when I asked.

Al
Guest
Al
5 years ago
Reply to  Mama

Mama, Kiki
the merging car must yield to the through traffic, not go the same speed.
“Traffic on the freeway has the right of way. There is no law that requires a driver occupying the right lane on the freeway to move over, slow down or take any other action to let a merging vehicle on the freeway.” DMV manual, Jun 29, 2014.

If the car merging goes the same speed as the the through traffic
what happens? They collide.
Nothing worse than being dead right.
No law enforcement will tell anyone to tailgate, insist that the through traffic yield to them or insist that vehicles collide with each other and they won’t give a ticket for defensive driving; if any law enforcement says that talk to their captain.

In this case the drunk driver driving 75, hit the through traffic going 65, the only way to avoid the drunk driver was for the through traffic to speed up and get away from the drink driver.

Many people around here drive drunk or stoned or drunk and stoned or they are actually running from law enforcement; stay alert, if you see them coming get out of their way.

A drunk driver caused that accident.

Maybe they should put permanent dui checkpoints throughout the county.

Stay safe out there.

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
5 years ago
Reply to  Al

If the merging car goes the same speed as the through traffic, with minor adjustments to align themselves with an opening… they successfully merge. It’s the people who fail to accelerate to traffic speed that cause accidents. Merging requires both traffic streams to be moving at the same speed. And, the minor adjustments generally should be in the form of accelerating to slightly over traffic speed before the end of the acceleration lane, if possible. It’s much easier to shed speed than gain it when trying to merge.

Kiki
Guest
Kiki
5 years ago

No, according to the CHP (I asked) you enter at hwy or freeway speeds. Because other wise you may cause an accident. If you are going to slow in either lane you can get a ticket for going to slow.

In my 1911 I trust
Guest
In my 1911 I trust
5 years ago

Drunk driver came off the offramp and crossed the center line going 75 and hit a car that was going 65. The motorcycle crashed into the back of the car going 65. Drunk driver was arrested at the scene, motorcycle driver was not moving.

Fromthehills
Guest
Fromthehills
5 years ago

why not ban drunk driving? The gun laws work so well, why not have background checks to buy a vehicle?

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
5 years ago
Reply to  Fromthehills

Umm, they kinda do that already. It’s called a driver’s license. It’s actually harder to get than a firearm safety certificate. You need to buy insurance, too, and reregister yearly.

William Verick
Guest
William Verick
5 years ago
Reply to  Fromthehills

I like the analogy. Let’s require people who buy guns to get a license and pass a “road test” in order to get the license. Just like automobile drivers, people with guns should have to have insurance in case they hurt someone, like their wife or kid.

Lone ranger
Guest
Lone ranger
5 years ago
Reply to  William Verick

Doesn’t everyone have an umbrella policy?

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
5 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

An umbrella policy for being shot to death? Yeah, it’s called the blood of Christ, or reincarnation, or 72 virgins depending on your policy.

Mariahgirl
Guest
5 years ago

We used to drive 299 to Eureka daily and one of the biggest problems coming onto 101 from 299 is people that will not speed up to merge and you are behind them trying to merge. It is frustrating and dangerous. There are alot of places around here that you really have to speed up without a lot of space to do it. You can slow down once you get on the freeway and are out of other people’s way.

Al
Guest
Al
5 years ago
Reply to  Mariahgirl

Thanks, if somebody is driving crazy like they are on speed (and they most likely are) I’ll even pull over, but if that is not safe to do so I’ll speed up to avoid them even if it’s over 100 to avoid an accident, it’s within the law to exceed the speed limit for a short amount of time to avoid an accident. I wish we had more law enforcement out there, there used to be more in that very stretch; we are kind of on our own.
Stay safe.

Tmbr
Guest
Tmbr
5 years ago
Reply to  Al

Doing things like pulling over in traffic or “speed up to avoid them even if it’s over 100 to avoid an accident” is pretty damn dangerous too. Let alone driving in general. Humboldt is still a pretty safe place without mandatory d.u.i. checkpoints. And somebody should really ban drunk driving? ..Kind of like making it illegal??

Connie Dobbs
Guest
Connie Dobbs
5 years ago
Reply to  Al

I prefer to slow down and give people room to express their inner asshat. Speeding up is aggressive and some people see it as a challenge to their authoritay. I only want to have to monitor one slob at a time, but that’s just me.

Connie Dobbs
Guest
Connie Dobbs
5 years ago
Reply to  Mariahgirl

Are you sure? 299 enters S101 in its own lane, like the Ferndale onramp to N101 does. The merge comes about 1/10th of a mile after that.

Navin Gruesome
Guest
Navin Gruesome
5 years ago

The caltrans sign recently said “watch for pedestrians on the highway”
Since when do pedestrians use the highway?

isnt it
Guest
isnt it
5 years ago
Reply to  Navin Gruesome

You will see them every day if you drive 101 enough.

Humboldt Lady
Guest
Humboldt Lady
5 years ago
Reply to  Navin Gruesome

Quite often. There have been several fatalities on Hwy 101 in recent years. Please watch for pedestrians.

Guest_1
Guest
Guest_1
5 years ago

Photo of the motorcycle from car as as traffic was driving slowly through the accident scene. Didn’t look good.

Jaded
Guest
Jaded
5 years ago

299/101 is poorly designed. All over the country this type of exit is handled so much better, without jeopardizing lives. I drive all over this country, on new exchanges, these types of curves do not exist. New freeway ramps are probably not in the budget, being adequate.

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
5 years ago
Reply to  Jaded

There is no highway design that can make drunk driving safe.

Well, unless we build special roads for all the drunk drivers, in the form of small concrete boxes that they can’t actually get their vehicles out of. Of course, you can just skip the vehicle and put the individual in such a facility instead…