LOCAL : 6-Car Accident Snarls Freeway

A tractor-trailer truck unable to make a sudden stop caused a six-vehicle accident on the Costa Mesa Freeway near Fairhaven Avenue in Orange at 7:30 a.m. today, closing three of the four southbound lanes and tying up rush-hour traffic for two hours, authorities said.

The tractor-trailer driver, Charles Hall, 53, of San Bernardino, was taken to United Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with minor injuries, and two other people were slightly injured but did not require hospitalization, California Highway Patrol spokesman Keith Thornhill said.

Thornhill said Hall’s tractor and trailer, unable to brake fast enough, swerved to avoid a crash and hit two cars. The truck then rear-ended a dump truck that, in turn, hit two other vehicles, Thornhill said.

Hall had to be extricated from his truck but escaped serious injury, he said.