If you drive south of Hayward for about three hours on Interstate 5 you will come to Hanford, California. That is where law enforcement officials said a series of car and commercial vehicle accidents occurred on a recent morning.
A California Highway Patrol spokesperson said 50 vehicles were involved in the crashes. “Every single one of these collisions was caused by people driving too fast for the conditions,” he said.
He said it was not a 50-vehicle crash, but rather 50 cars and trucks involved in a number of crashes separated in some cases by seconds and in other cases by minutes. The CHP spokesperson did not have exact numbers on the injured to share with news media, but he did say there were fewer than 10 people hurt in the crashes and that all injuries were considered minor.
A hospital spokesperson said six people were hospitalized with crash-related injuries that day.
The CHP spokesperson said the first collision happened just before 8:30 in the morning last Tuesday when dense fog blanketed the area between Hanford and Lemoore. Though visibility was low, people did not slow, apparently.
That first crash caused a four-mile back-up of highway traffic and led to a chain reaction of collisions.
“Everybody who thought it was OK to go 60 in the fog found out that it’s not OK,” the CHP spokesperson said.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a driver going too fast for conditions, you can speak with a Hayward personal injury attorney about pursuit of maximum compensation for all damages.
