Truck Hits Divider, Vehicles, Slowing I-5 Traffic; 1 Injured

A 25-foot truck loaded with dry ice slammed into the center divider along the Santa Ana Freeway and collided with two other vehicles, creating a four-mile traffic jam during Tuesday’s rush hour, Highway Patrol officials said.

One person was slightly injured in the 6 p.m. accident, said California Highway Patrol Officer Bill Wedderburn. None of the drivers’ names were available Tuesday night.

“We got calls on this for a possible fatality, but it turned out out to be a scratch. They were really lucky,” Wedderburn said.

Wedderburn said the accident happened on the southbound lanes near the Katella Avenue overpass when the truck loaded with dry ice changed lanes and hit the rear of a van. At that point, the truck driver apparently lost control of the vehicle, which careened across two traffic lanes and onto the center divider.

The truck rode along the top of the divider for about 80 feet until it hit the abutment for the Katella Avenue overpass and stopped, Wedderburn said.

As it was sliding along the top of the divider, the truck hit a vehicle in the northbound lanes. The driver in that car was the one slIghtly injured.

The accident prompted highway officials to close all northbound lanes for about one hour, but drivers skirted around the collision site on the shoulder, Wedderburn said.