Highway 50 back open in Sacramento after 6-vehicle crash involving truck, ambulance
Traffic on Highway 50 in Sacramento was seriously congested for more than two hours following a multi-vehicle crash Monday morning in which a box truck overturned, blocking westbound lanes.
The crash also reportedly involved an ambulance, but the ambulance was not transporting any patients.
A collision confirmed by the California Highway Patrol to have involved six vehicles happened around 7:30 a.m. on westbound Highway 50 near the 51st Street overcross, just east of Stockton Boulevard, according to the CHP’s online activity log.
The CHP log said the involved vehicles included an ambulance, a work truck and a Budget rental box truck. The box truck was lying sideways across nearly all westbound lanes for nearly an hour before being towed mostly onto the shoulder, authorities reported.
The truck was cleared and all lanes reopened shortly after 10 a.m., according to Caltrans and the CHP.
Five people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries following the collision, the Sacramento Fire Department said in an update posted to social media shortly before 10 a.m. Fire officials said the private ambulance involved was not transporting patients at the time of the collision.
A Caltrans traffic camera as of 8:15 a.m. showed the overturned truck and responding emergency vehicles blocking all westbound lanes. The left lane of eastbound traffic was also closed, with traffic already slow in that direction due to construction work on the right side.
Around 8:30 a.m., a tow truck moved the box truck partially out of traffic and onto the shoulder; the three right lanes of westbound traffic were reopened while the two left lanes remained closed. The left eastbound lane also reopened at that time.
The incident snarled traffic during peak morning commute hours. Westbound traffic as of 8 a.m. was backed up through Watt Avenue, and eastbound traffic was slow through the W-X section of Highway 50, Caltrans cameras showed.
A driver with a dash camera who was directly behind the incident captured footage of the dramatic crash and posted the video to YouTube.
The video from Asa Kania showed a chain-reaction crash in which a dark-colored sedan appearing to be rear-ended by a white work truck, which was in turn rear-ended by the private ambulance, which was then struck from behind by a white pickup truck, all in the second-rightmost lane. The Budget box truck, in the center lane out of five lanes, partially obscures the view of the initial crash.
The white work truck then clipped the front of the Budget truck, which fishtailed to the left, sideswiping another vehicle before ending up perpendicular to traffic. Two sedans approached the box truck in the left two lanes, with at least one striking it, and it tumbled over.
Kania narrowly avoided the crash and wreckage. He pulled over and reported the incident to 911, his dashcam video shows.
This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 8:28 AM.
