SMUD asks drivers to stop hitting its power poles after 3 accidents in 36 hours
Sacramento Metropolitan Utility District is asking area drivers to “steer clear” after three of its power poles have been struck since Wednesday night.
Three car accidents affecting power poles had occurred in a 36-hour stretch starting Wednesday, SMUD said in a tweet Friday morning.
California Highway Patrol crews closed lanes of traffic as SMUD crews worked for hours early Friday to repair a pole hit before 5 a.m. at Hazel and Central avenues in Orangevale. No one was injured, according to CHP logs.
More than 1,900 lost power due to the crash, according to SMUD’s online outage map. About 60 Orangevale customers remained without power as of 11 a.m. due to damaged equipment from the crash.
A crash at about 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Arden-Arcade area left more than 1,500 customers without power. About 1,300 of them regained power within 7:45 p.m., but some customers had to wait several more hours for SMUD to repair the pole.
“These accidents take out power and risk lives. Please stay safe and steer clear of the poles,” SMUD’s tweet said.
This story was originally published May 10, 2019 at 11:08 AM.
