CHP identifies semi truck driver in Highway 101 crash that killed SLO County woman
The driver of a semi-tractor trailer truck involved in Wednesday’s fatal Highway 101 crash in Nipomo has been identified by the California Highway Patrol.
David Edmunson, 62, of Arroyo Grande, was driving a 2014 Peterbilt semi truck on northbound Highway 101 south of Willow Road exit when the vehicle blew out a right front tire at about 4:10 p.m. Wednesday, according to the CHP news release.
Edmunson then lost control of the semi truck, which traveled off the east road edge of the highway, striking a metal guard rail, the CHP said.
Edmunson was towing a Lowboy trailer carrying an excavator, which came off when he hit the rail, the release said.
According to the CHP, the excavator fell down onto the Willow Road off-ramp, where it landed on top of a 2008 Cadillac Escalade being driven by a 60-year-old Nipomo woman, fatally injuring her.
The CHP did not identify the woman by name, calling her Jane Doe in the release.
According to the release, a 2016 Mazda 6 driven by 53-year-old Eliodora Cadenas of Glendale was struck by debris from the excavator, but Cadenas wasn’t injured.
Edmunson received minor injuries in the collision, the CHP release said, noting that the truck driver expressed a “complaint of pain.”
Correction: This story was updated to reflect the direction of the semi truck driver’s travel on Highway 101. He was heading northbound when the crash occurred.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 10:19 AM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Arroyo Grande resident David Edmunson was driving his semi-tractor trailer truck on southbound Highway 101 when he lost control of his vehicle. He was traveling northbound. The error has been corrected.
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