LOCAL : Four Accidents Snarl Traffic on Freeways in North Valley

Four separate accidents on the San Diego Freeway this morning, including one in which a tanker truck crushed a car, shut down the southbound lanes of the highway and jammed traffic throughout the northern San Fernando Valley, the California Highway Patrol reported.

In the tanker accident, a car traveling southbound near Roscoe Boulevard veered out of control about 6 a.m. and struck the front wheels of an empty gas tanker truck. The car was dragged beneath the trailer and was crushed beneath the truck’s back wheels.

In what officials described as a “remarkable” turn of events, the driver of the car, who was trapped for almost an hour, suffered only minor cuts and bruises and was released this morning from Valley Presbyterian Hospital.

The driver’s identity was not released.

The accident, which involved two other cars, shut down the southbound lanes from 6 until 7:15 a.m., backing up the San Diego and Simi Valley freeways. The drivers in the other vehicles were not injured.

Three other accidents, all within a mile of the tanker crash, snarled the freeway during the morning rush from Victory Boulevard to beyond Roscoe Boulevard. Along with the Simi Valley Freeway, surface streets were also clogged, the CHP reported.

Two of the accidents, both minor collisions, occurred in the northbound lanes. The third, involving one car that struck a railing, occurred behind the tanker crash, the CHP said.

“When there is one big crash, everyone is in a hurry to get to work and they are not really paying attention,” CHP Officer Dave Grajeda said. “Everything kind of all fell apart out there this morning. It was a real mess.”