A double-bed tractor trailer flipped over on Highway 152/Pacheco Pass near Frazier Lake Drive around 2:40 p.m. today, blocking traffic in both directions and causing drivers to turn around and find an alternate route.
The driver, a 49-year-old Hispanic male who was headed Eastbound on Highway 152 pulling about 21,000 pounds of cardboard romaine lettuce boxes, received minor injuries but was able to extricate himself from the overturned cab. He appeared to be experiencing neck pains.
CalFire Battalion Chief Jim Crawford estimates the cargo load may have shifted during a turn in the road by the Frazier Lake intersection – causing the driver to lose control – “or he may have negotiated the turn too fast,” said Crawford. Â
No other vehicles were involved in the accident, which caused about 25 to 30 gallons of diesel fuel to leak onto the highway. Caltrans crews were seen throwing an absorbent, sand-like material over the fluid to keep it from spreading. Cardboard boxes were strewn all over the asphalt, spilling over by the hundreds onto the roadside; Crawford estimated about 28 pallets fell off the truck.
Officers re-directed Westbound traffic onto Ferguson Road or back onto Bloomfield Road. Traffic that was heading Eastbound on Highway 152 was diverted onto Frazier Lake Drive.
Caltrans, two engines from South Santa Clara County Fire, two trucks from Marx Towing and about 10 California Highway Patrol units responded to the scene.Â
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