One minute, drivers on I-80 were getting hit with hail. In the next minute, it was clear sailing and the chain control signs were being turned to their backside Wednesday.
James Long is driving his truck up to Squaw Valley, where he’s doing a sunglasses promotion this weekend. A little more sun today would have been welcome.
Truck drivers like him had to go chains on, then off, twice before they ever got to the summit in the trip over the Sierra Nevada.
“Twice, yes,” Long said. “I was in the hail this morning and I got stopped. Then it was just wet. But a little farther up I ran into the same guy.”
Chains can make all the difference.
In an accident that had West Bound I-80 closed for about an hour through the midday, two semi-trucks collided, and a passenger car collided with the wreck.
At least one of the semi’s wasn’t wear chains. A CHP investigator says that the chain control area was moving when the accident happened.
5 people had moderate to minor injuries as a result of the accident.