2 Drivers Escape Serious Injury in Crash

Two drivers involved in a head-on collision on Ventura County’s notorious “Blood Alley” Tuesday night escaped virtually unscathed from the crumpled wreckage of their cars, authorities said.

The collision occurred on California 126 east of Fillmore between Fish Hatchery and Cavin roads. The highway was closed for about 75 minutes after the 8 p.m. accident.

“It’s amazing,” California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Neumann said. “. . . They’re going to walk away.”

From a preliminary investigation, it appears that an eastbound car crossed the center line of the two-lane highway, striking a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction almost head-on, Neumann said.

A big-rig truck clipped the back of the eastbound car but wasn’t seriously damaged.

The car drivers, who were trapped in their vehicles after the accident, received minor injuries and were taken to a hospital, Neumann said. The truck driver and his passenger were uninjured.

The stretch of road where the accident occurred is being widened to four lanes, and guardrails on either side provide drivers no room to maneuver.

The accident comes in the wake of the Monday morning death of Robert William Thompson, 81, of Pasadena, whose car drifted off California 126 east of Piru and smashed into a parked Caltrans steamroller. The man is the ninth person to die on the highway in the past four weeks, officials said.