Truck on Overpass Dumps Forklift Onto Freeway : Accidents: Motorists escape serious injury in the crash, which rained bags of cement on a median 30 feet below.

Two motorists suffered only slight injuries Thursday when a five-ton forklift and dozens of 50-pound bags of cement fell from an overpass onto the crowded Hollywood Freeway in North Hollywood, the California Highway Patrol said.

The 7 a.m. accident caused a commuting nightmare, clogging the freeway’s southbound lanes for hours.

CHP Officer Doug Reynolds said a semi-tractor hauling the forklift and about 250 bags of cement on a flatbed trailer was on the transition road from the southbound Hollywood Freeway to the eastbound Ventura Freeway when the hitch broke and the trailer began weaving.

The driver, Roberto Chavez, 28, of Sunland, was unable to control the truck, and it hit a guardrail, dumping the forklift and dozens of bags of cement over the side of the elevated road, the CHP said.

Chavez was unhurt, but the forklift and cement dropped 30 feet into the center median and first southbound lane of the Hollywood Freeway below, Reynolds said. A pickup truck driven by Bernard Walsh, 32, of Northridge was struck by cement bags and part of the forklift, he said.

The windshield of the pickup was smashed, the roof was caved in, and two bags of cement ended up in the passenger seat. But Walsh suffered only a cut on his head.

“He had a head laceration and ended up being covered head to toe with cement dust,” Reynolds said. “He was very, very lucky. Everybody out there was lucky.”

Walsh was treated at Medical Center of North Hollywood and released. Another motorist was slightly injured when his car hit the debris, Reynolds said. He was treated at the scene by paramedics.

The transition lane where the tractor-trailer crashed was closed for nearly eight hours while Caltrans crews cleaned up and constructed a temporary replacement for the 100-foot segment of destroyed guardrail.

Traffic on both sides of the Hollywood Freeway slowed to a crawl through the morning commute as the debris was cleared and torn bags of cement created a huge cloud of dust, Reynolds said. The traffic tie-up also spread to surface streets.

“Traffic was very heavy in the side streets,” said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Ike Langsan. “People were trying to get to work. We managed to get through it without any gridlock, though.”

Reynolds said an investigation of what caused the trailer’s hitch to fail is continuing.