Highway 156 - Big Rig vs. Passenger Car Head-on Collision

Updated Below

According to the California Highway Patrol and reporter, an 18-wheeler and Ford Focus crashed at 8 a.m. in a head-on collision on Highway 156 in Prunedale, about one-half mile from Highway 101, and multiple other big rigs nearby spun out and blocked the road. (View map at bottom of this article)

Both directions of Highway 156 remain blocked as of 9:09 a.m., with CHP staff turning vehicles away at multiple roads including Cathedral Oak, Oak Hills, Highway 101 and others.

A woman was trapped in the wreckage of her Ford Focus about 15 feet down an embankment for most of an hour before North Monterey County fire crews could extricate her. A helicopter ambulance responded, landing on the highway and waiting until she was removed and stabilized before taking her to a San Jose trauma center.

The woman required "major extrication" due to the near total destruction of her vehicle, which has Arizona license plates.

The CHP reported at 8 a.m. that one tractor trailer, which had its cab down the opposite embankment, was sending up smoke. Passersby put out the flames, the CHP reported. Other big rigs were reported blocking both lanes of traffic at Meridian Road at Oak Hill.

A long-term closure for Highway 156 was declared at 8:09 a.m., and the California Department of Transportation was called to the scene.

As of 8:23 a.m., sand was requested to deal with 70 feet of oil spreading across the roadway.

At least one other big rig was damaged in the crash.

Traffic is slowly being routed away from the scene of the crash.


View Big rigs crash in a larger map

Source: The Californian.com
Photo by: Richard Green/The Salinas Californian

10:15am UPDATE
Information in an article from the Contra Costa Times indicates that the crash occurred after the female driver in a Ford Focus reached down for her cell phone and drifted into the path of the oncoming truck carrying construction debris.