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Woman hurt after SUV plunges off cliff
Rob Varela / Star staff Sandra Ballard of Camarillo is lifted toward a helicopter after the vehicle she was driving went off a cliff along Pacific Coast Highway south of Mugu Rock. The SUV plunged more than 40 feet onto boulders. She suffered moderate injuries.
Rob Varela / Star staff 5/7/08 PCH. A Ventura County Sheriff's helicopter crew member is lifted in to the copter soon after assisting in lifting the victim of a car crash off Pacific Coast Highway, just north of Sycamore Canyon, Wednesday morning. The victim who had been traveling south went over the side, and plunged about 60 feet down on to the rocks at the waters edge.
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More from Local NewsA 40-year-old Camarillo woman was taken to St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard on Wednesday after the sport utility vehicle she was driving plunged off a cliff along Pacific Coast Highway south of Mugu Rock.
Sandra Ballard's vehicle fell more than 40 feet onto boulders near the ocean about 10:30 a.m. The crash happened south of Sycamore Canyon, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Ballard was thrown from the vehicle, the CHP said. She suffered moderate injuries, including a fractured right hand, face cuts and multiple bruises.
The CHP said the crash was under investigation.
Posted by numonics on May 8, 2008 at 7:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
People drive so fast on that road. Personally I have had one too many tickets and go the speed limit and it sucks when you do and people practically ram their cars down your throat, slow down and back off.
Posted by mommies4angels on May 9, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Our thoughts and prays are with you Sandra and your family. We wish you a fast recovery. I just found out about the accident today. We will come and visit you soon. To those people that think they know everything....no where did it say she was speeding. Remember that family and friends read this.
Posted by wolf9walker on May 11, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have been trained to not only pay attention to what I’m doing while driving, but what others are doing. This has keeped me out of accidents for 20 years. Something I always seen to notice, is that somepeople don’t pay attention at times. Like getting on a freeway, they wait until the ramp is almost gone then they look to getting of the freeway sometimes driving on the shoulder or hitting the brakes. Sometimes people do it also when a lane is merging. Reading, texting, looking at the radio or cds, eating etc. the star even printed a article about a vet doctor with a photo of him driving down the freeway looking at his pda, with a caption under saying he always looks at records of his client before he gets there so he is ready.
People need to pay attention to the road at all times. And the faster you go the more you need to pay attention. For those who say “speeding cause’s accidents”(Speeding doses not cause on accident by its self.) there are only 3 reasons for an accident is "human, nature or mechanical".
She either was driving to fast for herself, the car or the road. Or she took her eyes of the road at the wrong time. So either human error or mechanical failure. I hope she will be ok.
Drive safely out there. The life you save, most likely will be your own.
Posted by PorterzD on May 14, 2008 at 11:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My thoughts and prayers go out to Sandra and her family. For those who know her, family encompasses everyone whose lives she touches, including her blood relations, friends, and co-workers. For those that are commentng without knowledge of who this wonderful woman is, be careful, lest you anger those that hold her dear. She is one of the most considerate people that I know, and this is a hard time for those that hold her dear. It's easy to make a snap judgement about a situation when it's not YOUR loved one being air-lifted to the hospital.
Mugu Rock is a dangerous area of Pacific Coast Highway, and the issue that needs to be addressed is: how do we prevent this from happening again?
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