Traffic collision spike draws local attention
The California Highway Patrol is working with the California Department of Transportation to possibly put up more signs or lighting in the bridge work construction zones.
This comes in the wake of two accidents this weekend on southbound Interstate 5 just south of the Hambright Creek bridge.
The first accident happened around 8:10 p.m. Friday night when a Murrieta man driving a 2006 GMC pulling a trailer hit the guardrail and a concrete barrier with the trailer, a CHP report said.
James Pradmore, 62, suffered an abrasion to his left forearm and was taken to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.
CHP officers said Pradmore was driving around 55 miles per hour when he allegedly made an unsafe turning movement to the left, and the left side of his trailer collided with the bridge rail.
He then turned the wheel to the right and the right side of the trailer collided with the temporary concrete barrier, officers said.
As a result, Pradmore’s GMC veered to the left in the center median and collided with a steel guardrail, CHP officers said. The vehicle continued in an easterly direction into the northbound lane of I-5 and collided with the temporary concrete barrier before rolling over onto the passenger’s side.
No arrest was made in this accident.
The next accident occurred Sunday night at 8:18 when a 2007 Freightliner with a flatbed trailer was wrecked in the same location, and dumped 47,000 pounds of glass.
Edward Henry Ward, 46, of Shingletown was driving the tractor and trailer on southbound Interstate 5 at 55 miles per hour just north of Hambright Creek, CHP officers said.
The traffic lanes were reduced to a single lane north of Stony Creek and continued south past Hambright Creek, officials said.
Ward allegedly allowed his left side tires to drift off the east side pavement edge of southbound I-5 just north of Hambright Bridge, and it collided with a metal guardrail leading up to the concrete bridge abutment, the CHP report said.
This collision damaged the tractor’s steering, officers said, causing it to pull to the left and bounce off the east rail until it passed over the bridge.
The tractor then crossed over the median into the northbound lanes and narrowly missed a northbound vehicle. It collided with a line of temporary concrete dividers and overturned on its left side spilling the glass, CHP officers said.
Ward was trapped in the vehicle for a short time, officers said, but was extricated with the assistance of emergency personnel. He was not injured.
Northbound Interstate 5 was shut down for several hours for cleanup.
CHP Public Affairs Officer J. Dicharry said Monday her office is working with Caltrans on the roadwork situation to see if more precautions can be made.
