Truck Accidents 360 Newswire

SAN LUCAS, CA – A tanker truck plunged off a California highway into the Salinas River on Tuesday afternoon. The truck accident happened on Highway 101 near San Lucas, south of King City in Monterey County, CA. The area is in the southwest section of the state near the Santa Lucia Mountains, 104 miles north of Santa Maria and 162 miles southeast of San Francisco, CA.

Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, an unidentified truck driver was headed north on Highway 101 in a fuel tanker truck. The driver had just delivered the tanker’s load of crude oil in Santa Maria, leaving the tank almost empty.

At around 2:40 p.m. in the area of San Lucas, CA, the driver lost control of the 18 wheeler tanker truck and it plunged off the highway and onto the dry riverbed of the Salinas River below. No other vehicles were involved in the truck accident.

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California Highway Patrol and local emergency personnel responded to the truck accident scene. The truck driver suffered minor injuries in the collision and was transported to a hospital in nearby King City.

Since the tanker had been emptied a short time before the collision there was only about five gallons of crude oil spilled onto the river bed after the truck accident. A Hazmat team was brought in to clean up the oil spill and the diesel fuel that leaked from the crashed tanker truck.

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Officials report that the California Department of Fish and Game had been notified and would be making their own inspection of the truck accident scene. The truck driver could face additional criminal charges if they determine that his actions polluted the area of the Salinas River.

CHP closed down the highway while crews cleared the area. A crane was brought in to lift the wreck of the disabled tanker truck out of the Salinas River. Once it was brought back up a tow truck would haul the 18 wheeler tanker from the site. Another highway crew was brought in Tuesday evening to repair a guardrail along the highway that was damaged during the truck accident.

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Both lanes of Highway 101 were reopened for traffic shortly before midnight Wednesday.

CHP continues to investigate the one truck accident to determine why the truck driver went off the highway and into the river. One theory is that the driver may have dozed off while driving or that he was distracted right before he left the highway and plummeted into the Salinas River
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At this time charges have not been formally made against the truck driver, pending the completion of the truck accident investigation and the findings of the California Department of Fish and Game.

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