CHP identifies woman killed in Highway 101 crash in SLO County
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The California Highway Patrol identified the woman killed in a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 101 near the base of the Cuesta Grade last month.
The woman was identified as 69-year-old Stratham, Georgia, resident Nancy Louise Cunningham, the CHP announced on Monday afternoon.
At around 9:30 p.m. on March 28, a Toyota Camry attempted to turn left onto southbound Highway 101 from Higuera Ranch, according to a previous CHP news release.
At the same time, a 2023 Toyota Highlander was traveling northbound on the highway. As the Camry crossed the northbound lanes, the two vehicles collided, the release said.
The Highlander traveled across the southbound lanes and stopped on the right shoulder of the highway, the release said.
The Camry sustained major damage, the CHP said, and was disabled and blacked out facing the wrong way in the No. 1 northbound lane.
Cunningham, a passenger in the Camry, opened the front passenger door and began to exit the vehicle when she was hit by a Hyundai Tucson traveling northbound at an unknown speed.
According to the CHP, the vehicle driver did not see the blacked-out Camry in the lane ahead of him.
Cunningham was thrown from the vehicle and landed in the southbound left turn lane at Higuera Ranch, the release said. She was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Five other patients — two adult drivers and three juvenile passengers — were transported to Adventist Health Sierra Vista hospital in San Luis Obispo for minor to moderate injuries, according to the release.
Several lanes of traffic were closed as emergency responders took over the scene, though the No. 2 lanes and shoulders of the highway did remain open, the CHP said.
The crash is still under investigation, and drugs and alcohol were not believed to be factors.
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 5:41 PM.
