LOS ANGELES, CA – A 50-year-old woman was killed Saturday night after being struck by a BMW while walking in a traffic lane of the southbound 101 Freeway in Ventura, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The collision was reported around 8:56 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, on the southbound 101 north of State Route 33, the CHP said. The woman was walking in the No. 1 lane, which is the far-left lane, when the BMW hit her.
The woman was a Ventura resident, the CHP said. Personnel from the Ventura City Fire Department pronounced her dead at the scene.
The CHP gave its account of the crash to reporters on Sunday, Oct. 18. The agency had not released the woman’s name as of that day, and the investigation continues.
BMW driver was from Salt Lake City
A 47-year-old woman from Salt Lake City, Utah, was driving the BMW, the CHP said. The vehicle was a 2016 BMW 328i, and it was traveling southbound on the 101 at the time of the collision.
The CHP’s Ventura Area office is handling the investigation. The agency did not say why the woman was on the freeway or whether drugs or alcohol were suspected in the crash.
Southbound lanes closed about two and a half hours
All southbound lanes of the 101 Freeway were closed for about two and a half hours while authorities investigated, according to the CHP.
During the closure, traffic was diverted onto northbound State Route 33, the agency said.
Pedestrians account for 21 percent of California traffic deaths
Pedestrians and bicyclists account for 21 percent of all traffic-related fatalities in California, the CHP said in a news release published Oct. 2, 2024, about a federal grant for pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
The release says that from 2021 to 2023, 1,568 of 7,575 fatalities in CHP jurisdiction were pedestrians and bicyclists.
In the same release, the CHP announced $1.55 million in federal grant funding for bicycle and pedestrian safety, education and enforcement. The funding covered Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025.
The California Office of Traffic Safety publishes statewide figures on its Quick Stats page. It reports that pedestrian fatalities in California fell about 8.8%, from 1,213 in 2022 to 1,106 in 2023.
Ventura County pedestrian data for 2023
The Office of Traffic Safety’s 2023 rankings page for Ventura County lists 188 pedestrians killed and injured in the county that year. That placed Ventura County 30th among California’s 58 counties.
The same page lists 22 pedestrian victims under 15, ranking 43rd of 58 counties, and 33 pedestrian victims aged 65 and older, ranking 34th of 58.
Those figures are for 2023 and are not specific to the stretch of the 101 where Saturday’s collision happened.
Investigation remains active
The CHP said the collision on the southbound 101 north of State Route 33 remains under investigation.
For now, the agency has said the BMW driver is a 47-year-old woman from Salt Lake City and that the pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene by Ventura City Fire Department personnel.
