One Killed, Two Injured in El Rio Head-On Crash

VENTURA COUNTY, CA – A driver died and two people in another car were injured Monday after a head-on collision on Vineyard Avenue in the unincorporated El Rio area outside Oxnard. The two-vehicle crash was reported at about 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 5 near Perello Ranch Road.

The California Highway Patrol said a 45-year-old man was driving a gray Honda Civic west on Vineyard Avenue when he made an unsafe left turn across the double yellow centerlines for an unknown reason. The Civic entered opposing traffic and struck a black BMW 328i driven by a 22-year-old woman.

A juvenile girl was riding in the front passenger seat of the BMW. The Honda driver suffered major injuries and died at the scene. The BMW driver sustained major injuries, while the girl suffered minor injuries. Ambulances took both occupants of the BMW to Ventura County Medical Center.

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Cars Stopped on Opposite Sides

CHP officers arrived to find the Honda with front-end damage in the westbound left lane. The BMW, also damaged in front, had come to rest on the right shoulder. The final positions were consistent with the reported head-on impact but did not explain why the Honda crossed the centerlines.

Ventura County, Ventura and Oxnard firefighters responded with AMR ambulance crews shortly after the unsafe turning movement was reported. The fire response was logged at about 3:22 p.m., roughly seven minutes after the collision was first reported. Fire officials said one patient died at the scene, one went to the hospital with serious injuries and another had minor injuries. CHP later identified those patients by their positions in the two vehicles without releasing their names.

Vineyard Avenue is also State Route 232, placing the collision on a state highway patrolled by the CHP. The crash occurred at Perello Ranch Road in a mixed residential and agricultural part of El Rio, between Oxnard and U.S. 101. Officials did not report that any other vehicle was involved.

Cause Remained Under Investigation

Investigators had not determined whether alcohol or drugs contributed to the crash. Their preliminary account attributed the collision sequence to the Honda’s turn across the double yellow lines, but it did not explain what prompted that movement. The CHP asked witnesses or anyone with information to contact its Ventura Area office at 805-662-2640.

No arrest was reported, and authorities had not announced a final finding on the cause. The available account left the BMW driver and her juvenile passenger as the surviving occupants, both receiving hospital care after the westbound Honda entered their lane.