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One Killed, One Seriously Injured In Head On Crash Which Closed Central Coast Highway

A Central Coast woman is being identified as the victim of a fatal head on traffic accident which closed Highway 1 between Santa Barbara and Lompoc for hours Monday.

CHP officers say a SUV headed northbound of Highway 1 near Jalama Road drifted into the southbound lane, hitting an oncoming van head on.

The SUV’s driver, Elaine Ventura of Lompoc, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the van was seriously injured, and flown by air to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. The crash closed Highway 1 at about 3:30 Monday afternoon, and it didn’t reopen until around 7 p.m.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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