Driver Survives Plunge Off Highway 150
Joel Wolfgang signs papers for the tow company as Adamson’s tow truck drivers winch his car up a 50-foot embankment on Dennison Grade. Wolfgang, uninjured, drove the battered BMW away after the incident.
Photo and report by Logan Hall
Joel Wolfgang narrowly averted tragedy after his car flew off of Dennison Grade Monday afternoon. Wolfgang, was uninjured after going over the side of the road and plummeting more than 50 feet down the steep embankment.
“He was kind of tailgating me so I was watching him in the rear view mirror,” said local Carol Holly who made the 911 call. “I saw the car just fly off the edge. I was scared to death when I saw that.”
Holly pulled over and flagged down a passing motorist, upper Ojai resident Collin Sage, who immediately went down the near vertical hillside to try to help. “I was on my way home from work,” said Sage. “I knew by the way Carol was waving and pointing that something was up. I jumped out and just bolted down the hill.”
Sage says he found Wolfgang still in the car with his two dogs. “He kept saying that he was alright,” said Sage, “but I could see that his hands were shaking. These guys (firefighters) got here pretty quick. I grabbed the pooch and walked up the hill.”
With the help of fire crews, Wolfgang made his way back up where he was checked out by waiting paramedics. He reported that he was uninjured and was given the ok to leave the scene.
“Everything is fine,” Wolfgang said after speaking with the California Highway Patrol officer on scene. “About halfway down, I figured I better hit the brakes. Not that the brakes did any good though. It was no big deal. I just went off the edge.”
Adamson’s Towing Company was able to winch the BMW from the side of the cliff relatively unscathed. After checking out his car and signing some papers, Wolfgang loaded up his two dogs into the tattered and dirty, but otherwise fully functional BMW and drove off. He said he needed to look for his third dog that had run into the woods after the crash.
“I’ve been on a lot of calls up here when cars go off the edge,” said Adamson’s driver Gary Ferguson as Wolfgang drove off down the highway, “but I’ve never seen anything like that.”
I’m pretty sure he meant the VCFD in Ojai. It was nice of him to post a thank you note for the help he received and our community should be gracious in accepting it.
I did not know Ojai had its own Fire Department. I thought it was Ventura County Fire
Not that there’s anything wrong with that-
So glad the dog was found! Thanks for the update…poor little thing.
Huh?
**** MISSING DOG FROM ACCIDENT FOUND SAFE ^^^^
Thanks to the wonderful Humane Society of Ventura County, the Ojai Fire Department, and an unknown good samaritan, Bea … the missing third dog was found and is safely back in the hands of her owners two days after the accident. If she could only tell us about her survival. Thanks to the wonderful community for all their help.
I dont need to learn out of a book what a safe speed is. If I go a little over, who’s lookin? This is still America isn’t it?
Every New Yorker and West L.A. speed freak in Ojai
and then picked up an undocumented for under the
table purposes has violated California Penal Code
Section 834. It is a felony and violation of federal
immigration laws. The Ventura County Board of
Supervisors hired Nature’s Image of Orange County
to invade Ojai and spray poison on the Ventura
River. The VC Board of Supervisors and Nature’s Image
are felons according to 834. We ask the VCSD and ICE
to deport all of them back to Mexico. STOP THE OC!
you’ve got to know the road!
Slow drivers can get ticketed, too.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21654.htm
Does anyone know what time this accident occured?
ahhhhh…anotber Ojai “moment.”
Drivers in this town violate more sections of the vehicle code, every day!!
Mr. It’s No Big Deal will continue to drive like a fool until one day No Big Deal will be in the paper again…under obits.
It should be noted that a growing number of cities are questioning this point: “Regardless of the posted speed limit, your speed should depend on: The number and speed of other vehicles on the road.”
This method of determining speed could mean, for example, that if the majority of drivers on Grand Avenue are exceeding the current speed limit and there are no accidents, that the speed limit could be increased. Grand Avenue is a prime example of a street that is handling ever increasing numbers of vehicles during peak hours, which is also the same time that children use Grand to go back and forth to school. Teachers and parents who want their children to walk or ride bikes to school and the residents who live on Grand want the speed lowered, regardless if the majority of cars are exceeding the speed limit.
Hey Kathy, thanks for that important reminder.
The California Driver Handbook says this about speed limits
California has a “Basic Speed Law.” This law means that you may never drive faster than is safe for current conditions. For example, if you are driving 45 mph in a 55 mph speed zone during a dense fog, you could be cited for driving “too fast for conditions.” You may never legally drive faster than the posted speed limit, even if you think it is safe.
Regardless of the posted speed limit, your speed should depend on:
The number and speed of other vehicles on the road.
Whether the road surface is smooth, rough, graveled, wet, dry, wide, or narrow.
Bicyclists or pedestrians walking on the road’s edge or crossing the street.
Whether it is raining, foggy, snowing, windy, or dusty…
It’s worth rereading that entire section!
Suza, posted speed signs around the valley are updated frequently. I talked to the guy who said he was responsibible for upgrading the speed limit past Camp comfort on that stretch that used to be 25 but everybody driving it went over that anyway. Including the really slow drivers.
Most people go the speed limit. The ones that want to go faster and tail gate including the mommy who would would put everyones lives at stake to get to her sick kid are rude.
The ones that make a point of going under the speed limit and think they are being the almighty traffic controllers as they hold up a huge line of 8 cars are also rude.
Some of the idiot posters here who complain about people from LA being the culprits with exact descriptions of how they look and who they hire off the streets are also rude, whiny and ignorant.
Jai Michael, maybe they didn’t completely cover your crash because there weren’t as many witnessess , I don’t know..but I have to say this article was very well writen and entertaining, even funny because everyone was ok and the guy with the BMW just drove off in his beat up car, I can just picture that ha!
I hope they found his other dog though!
The speed limits aren’t outdated at all. There are lots of factors that determine what the speed limits are, i.e., road width, zoning, structures, etc.
Driving 10-20 MPH under the speed limit is not safe driving if conditions are ideal, such as dry road, time of day, visibility. Obstructing traffic flow puts more people at risk. If your sightseeing while driving, you are a distracted driver, and put other drivers at risk.
The stretch of 150/33 from Miramonte to the Y is the part I dislike the most. It is very common to get stuck behind someone, usually driving a van or Volvo wagon, going 30-35 MPH. The posted speed limit is 45, except near the school, and that is only when children are present. They have no clue of the increasing number of cars behind them that are having to brake. Then they get to the curve by Villanova and they slow down to 25.
No one is saying to speed, but at least drive near the limit, and congestion will decrease. Enjoying Ojai slowly is one thing, but I still want to enjoy it today.
***** DOG THAT IS MISSING FROM ACCIDENT *****
If anyone sees a little female Sheltie, spayed, tri-color about 19 pounds … please contact me. I am Mr. Wolfgang’s partner and we are still trying to find Bea … the poor little one year old dog was originally a rescue and I am sure extremely scared in the Ojai area out by herself … If you can keep your eyes out for her … please do. We are in the Palm Springs area … difficult to keep searching for her at such a distance. Thanks for your help and prayers. If you have a sighting or find her, contact the Humane Society .. they know how to reach me. Their number is 805-646-6505.
Hey people, the posted speed limit means that is the maximum speed you are allowed to drive by law. It doesn’t mean you have to drive that speed.
Sorry to interrupt this important line of thought but I just saw something that looked like a cross between a rat and a squirrel over between City Hall and the Little House. It had a tail like a rat and it kept its belly low but had the body and head of a squirrel, it acted oddly and was stalking a lizard for crying out loud.
Oh, absolutely, for sure it was Carol Holly’s fault that Mister Speedy Pants had to get up the Dennison Grade faster than she was going. When I was growing up we called it the “Dennison Grave” because of all the people that died going off of it. Of course we don’t know how exactly Mr. Wolfgang went off EXACTLY. It wasn’t after all just because Ms. Holly was “going too slow.” I would say that something happened that was probably actually HIS fault, like in some way or other he wasn’t paying attention, or maybe he had a mechanical failure, or maybe a bee stung him. Let’s leave it at thanking Carol for stopping to help and be glad Mr. Wolfgang is still alive.
Dave, thank you for your comment. Statistics show that even if modern cars are better at handling speed, the higher the speed, the greater the chance of a fatal accident. I am on the City Complete Streets sub committee and we recently spent the day touring the valley by bicycle with officials from Caltrans — the subject of speed was at the top of the list of concerns. There will be an editorial on this in the near future. All of these comments are helpful…
I’m currently living in Huntington Beach but frequently visit Ojai to paint outdoors. I find the drive in and out of Ojai on the 33 very stressful because of tailgaters and speeders. I drive the posted speed limit, no more, no less, unless conditions dictate slowing down. I have been tailgated by motocyclists on the grade even though there have been two biker deaths this year on the 33 and have been tailgated by a pickup for eight miles as I drove south on the 33, at the speed limit; with the pickup honking and flashing its lights at me the entire way. I dread driving in and out of Ojai for that reason and when I think of relocating there; the driving conditions on the 33 and the 150 cause me to re-evaluate my decision. I consider the 33 and the 150 to be hazardous.
My freind and I want off at that same spot on March 6,2007. We rolled 8 time all the way down(around 200ft) in a 1976 Datsun pick-upand we were going about 20 mph. I want to know why he got a spot in the Ojai Vaalley News and we didn’t. It bugs me and i don’t like it
Suza, you’ve got it wrong. Even with more traffic, etc., modern cars are so much better at handling speed now. A new car going 50 is a better bet to avoid problems than an old car going 40 — assuming a competent driver. I know, bad assumption. Don’t go under the speed limit!
In a hurry? Distracted by a dog? Using cell phone? Highway 150 & highway 33 were never designed to handle fast moving vehicles. These roads used to be driven and enjoyed for the senic views, now it seems that most drivers are more interested in getting ‘there’ – as fast as they can and to hell with slow drivers – “get out of the way, I’m in a hurry and I’m more important than you”!!!
John Langley, most of the posted speed limits in our valley are outdated, going back to an era where there were far fewer and smaller cars on the road. The correct speed limit is the speed that is safe under current road conditions and other circumstances, for all users of the road, drivers, pedestrians of all ages, dogs, kids, equestrians, bicyclists, etc. I hope that when you pass my elderly parents walking on Fairview where the speed limit is 30 mph that you will slow down –or does your philosophy, “If you’re not capable of driving the speed limit, stay off the road — PERIOD!” apply to pedestrians too? In other words, “If you’re not capable of getting out of the way of drivers going the speed limit, stay off the road–PERIOD!”
I agree with John Langley. I agree with “Enjoy Ojai Valley SLOWLY” but on the other hand, sheesh, pull over if you’re going to go that far UNDER the speed limit. So rude to keep everyone waiting. As a single parent of the occasional sick child, I want to get to him as fast as I can and your control issues, or oblivion, cause their own problems.
The tailgainting in Ojai will continue as long as people continue to routinely drive 5-15mph UNDER the posted speed limit. If you’re not capable of driving the speed limit, stay off the road — PERIOD!
Most people in Ojai nowadays are from L.A. or New York. They got the look, the attitude (yankees cap),
the money, and the speeding cars. You can also find
them hiring illegal aliens and displacing locals.
They get a big laugh out of that one.
OK the tailgaiting in Ojai, must stop. It is NOT ok nor is it safe to drive inches behind someone — there is supposed to be a full car length, a regular size car, for every 10 miles an hour you are going. Tailgaiting is stupid, ignorant, dangerous, idiotic and irritating to the person being followed so closely. STOP DOING IT!!
If you are in that much of a rush, go live in LA
I hope he found his dog, at least.
It was no big deal…I just went off the edge? What!?