A Paso Robles woman died after being T-boned by an oncoming semi-truck and trailer at one of the more dangerous highway crossings in SLO County.
According to the California Highway Patrol at about 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28 a 1990 Cadillac Eldorado was traveling on Wellsona Road, a frontage to Hwy 101 between Paso Robles and San Miguel, and turned to try and enter the highway.
At that intersection, traffic on Wellsona must cross the two southbound lanes, a median and then enter the merge lane on the other side of the highway (traveling north).
Meanwhile, a 2024 Freightliner big rig truck towing a trailer was traveling on the northbound side of the highway.
For an unknown reason, the CHP accident report said, the driver of the Cadillac “failed to yield the right of way” to the semi and “drove directly into the path” of the truck.
The truck driver “did not have time to slow or stop,” the report said, “subsequently striking the right-front door” of the Cadillac.
The Caddie end up in the merge lane and center divider, and the truck came to a stop on the east shoulder some distance further down the road.
The truck driver, identified as Justin Levi Adams, 44 of Pahrump, Nevada was not injured in the crash.
The driver of the Cadillac, identified as Brianna Mae Thomas, 27 of Paso Robles was killed.
The CHP’s investigation continues and the report said they did not know whether drugs or alcohol played a part. However, weather conditions did not play a part as the report lists the day as clear and dry.
This marks the second similar fatal crash in the past month, as on July 28 a 3-car crash at Hwy 46 at West Center Street, another, separated, 4-lane stretch of highway with a cross street, took the lives of three people. West Center Street (Hwy 41) leads to Shandon from the highway.
That 10:28 p.m. crash involved a driver turning into traffic on the wrong side of the highway and hitting head-on with another car, which was subsequently hit by a following vehicle.
The driver who the CHP said caused the crash was identified as Saundra Foutz, 30 of Paso Robles. Foutz was flown to a hospital in Fresno with major injuries.
Three people in the second car — a driver and two passengers from Cutler, Calif., Sanger and Reedley respectively — were all killed. Their names have not been released by the CHP. One other passenger survived.
The third driver, Jess Lopez, 38 of Bakersfield suffered minor injuries.
The area of Wellsona Road and Hwy 101 has long been a tricky stretch of roadway, as vehicles attempt to cross southbound traffic lanes, the median and merge lane on the other side, as cross traffic whizzes by at speed. The danger has intensified over the years as more of the rolling hills off Wellsona have been developed, along with increased traffic from San Miguel’s considerable growth.
