Wrong-way driver on Highway 101 in Ventura suffers major injuries

An 88-year-old man driving the wrong way on northbound Highway 101 in Ventura Wednesday night suffered major injuries after crashing into the center median, authorities said.

Shortly after 8 p.m., callers started reporting a driver traveling southbound in northbound lanes by the State Beaches ramp, near Emma Wood State Beach, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The car, later described as a 2017 Nissan Sentra, was said to be traveling in the left lane and center median of the northbound freeway.

Minutes later, a collision was reported near the Oak Street onramp in Ventura.

CHP Officer Ryan Ayala said the Santa Fe Springs man had been driving alone. No other vehicles were involved.

The driver crashed into the center median and the car stopped in the left lane, CHP officials said in a news release Thursday.

A CHP officer and good Samaritans started life-saving efforts at the scene, officials said.

Ayala said firefighters extricated the man from the vehicle. He was taken to Ventura County Medical Center with major internal injuries.

The man had not been wearing a seat belt, Ayala said.

The incident backed up northbound lanes for about an hour.

In June, two people were killed in a wrong-way crash on the northbound freeway north of Seaward Avenue in Ventura, with the wrong-way driver suspected of DUI. In December 2021, an Ojai teen was killed by a wrong-way drunk driver on the northbound 101 near the California Street ramp in Ventura.

Alcohol and drugs are not suspected in Wednesday's accident, authorities said. Any witnesses are asked to call the CHP's Ventura-area office at 805-662-2640.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Wrong-way driver on Highway 101 in Ventura suffers major injuries