8-car ‘chain-reaction collision’ on Madison Avenue results in DUI arrest, CHP says

A major pile-up involving eight cars on Madison Avenue near Interstate 80 injured two people Thursday morning, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The incident started at the intersection of Madison and Date avenues when the driver of a Ford Excursion heading eastbound struck a car stopped in the left turn lane, CHP North Sacramento office spokesman Mike Zerfas said.

“He hit the car so hard that he pushed it over the center median” and into oncoming traffic, Zerfas said.

The Ford driver then continued to drive eastbound and hit another stopped car in the turn lane, Zerfas said.

Those two initial collisions caused more collisions in each direction of traffic, some of them head-on, creating a “chain-reaction collision scenario,” Zerfas said.

Two people were transported to local hospitals for injuries, one major and one minor, following the crashes, according to Zerfas.

The driver of the Ford Excursion, a male, was arrested on suspicion of DUI, Zerfas said. No other identifying details about the suspect were immediately available.

The incident was reported about 7 a.m. Thursday and forced closure of all westbound lanes for about an hour.