Highway 101 Crash Kills Woman on Eve of Birthday

A Santa Barbara woman was killed Friday as she attempted to drive across Highway 101 at Mussel Shoal just moments after leaving her birthday lunch with a cousin.

Authorities and witnesses said Florence Temple, who would have turned 79 today, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her car was struck by an oncoming driver as she tried to make a left turn across the busy southbound lane of Highway 101 from the Cliff House restaurant.

The name of the man who drove the pickup truck that hit Temple’s car was not immediately available Friday evening. He was taken to an area hospital by helicopter.

Witnesses said the man’s truck skidded for about 75 feet before the 3:05 p.m. collision, which forced the California Highway Patrol to close the southbound lane for 20 minutes. Traffic was backed up for seven miles through Carpinteria.

The restaurant and the few dozen homes that make up the seaside hamlet of Mussel Shoal sit on the ocean side of Highway 101 between La Conchita and Seacliff.

Visitors and Mussel Shoal residents can gain access to Highway 101 northbound only by crossing against southbound traffic.

Dorothy Ledger, 75, of Ventura, said she had urged her cousin to avoid the dangerous left turn onto northbound Highway 101 and instead drive one mile south to the Seacliff interchange.

Gordon McKay, a 12-year resident of Mussel Shoal, said highway engineers have added turn lanes in recent years to make the cross-traffic interchange less dangerous.