Traffic to be impacted all day on I-5 due to crash between two big rigs
Traffic on Interstate 5 through Patterson will be affected all day Friday due to a crash between two big rigs.
The crash occurred just after midnight on northbound I-5 about a mile and a half north of Sperry Road, said California Highway Patrol officer Tom Olsen.
While a big rig in the fast lane was passing a big rig in the slow lane, the right rear of the passing big rig hit the left front of the other big rig. Olsen said it remains under investigation which big rig driver entered the other’s lane.
The impact sent the big rig in the slow lane to travel in a northeast direction. The center of its trailer went onto a guardrail on the east side of the road. It continued that way for about 75 feet until it hit an embankment on a bridge over a dirt road. Olsen likened it to a skateboarder riding a rail.
The driver of that big rig suffered minor injuries and the other big rig driver was not injured.
Olsen said The California Department of Transportation will be on scene all day replacing the guardrail that was destroyed and the slow lane will be closed. Traffic was already impacted Friday morning and Olsen anticipates it will be more so as people hit the roads for weekend travel. The lane is expected to remain closed until at least 5 p.m.
