More than 150,000 tomatoes ended up on Interstate 80 in Vacaville, California after the semi truck carrying them crashed through the median. The accident injured several people, including the man driving the truck, and slowed traffic to a crawl for several hours.
The incident happened around 5 a.m. on August 29, reports from Los Angeles Times. California Highway Patrol Trooper Jason Tyhurst told the publication that the truck, which was traveling west, hit a car, veered left, hit another car, went over the center divider and ended up in the median. He stopped before reaching the eastbound lanes, but spilled some of his load of tomatoes into oncoming traffic.
@ChpSolano is in an accident involving a big rig carrying tomatoes that went through the center bulkhead. Multiple lanes closed WB and EB on I-80 near Alamo in Vacaville. Please avoid the area and use alternative routes. Please drive safely pic.twitter.com/RR058UypVn
— CHP SOLANO (@ChpSolano)
August 29, 2022
Law enforcement officials reported three injuries. The truck driver suffered “minor injuries” and “complained of pain.” Los Angeles Times they report, and two people in one of the cars hit by the semis were also injured. One has a broken leg and the other is “complaining of pain”. Local news channel ABC7 adds that four cars crashed into each other after going through the spill and that three people were hospitalized.
The giant batch of tomato paste caused traffic chaos. The tomato peels are slippery, so the California Highway Patrol closed several lanes in both directions to get the truck out of the median and clean up the mess. He also urged motorists to avoid the area and use alternative routes.
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