Update: Driver collides with semi-truck on Highway 46 near Shandon rest stop
–On Thursday, April 9, at approximately 7:35 a.m., 54-year-old Joe Padilla of Bakersfield was traveling eastbound on Highway 46 east of Lucy Brown Road, approximately one mile east of the Shandon Rest Area. He was driving a 2013 Dodge Ram 3500 flatbed truck in light traffic and light rain. At the same time, 47-year-old Jose Casas from Indiana was driving a 2018 Freightliner tractor and 53-foot semi-trailer fully loaded with produce.
Possibly due to driver fatigue, Padilla drifted out of his lane and into the westbound lane causing a sideswipe collision between the trucks, according to California Highway Patrol. The impact caused the rear axle of the westbound trailer to be completely sheared free of the trailer as the trailer traversed the eastbound lane and came to rest on top of the concrete bridge rail for the Cholame Creek below.
The eastbound truck continued across the westbound lane and into the north shoulder where it came to rest on its wheels. The driver and sole occupant, Padilla, sustained visible injuries and received medical attention on the scene.
The westbound Freightliner truck tractor and trailer came to rest completely blocking the eastbound lane on the Cholame Creek bridge and that driver had complaint of pain only.
The truck was righted around 10 a.m., but it was unstable and partly resting on a bridge near Lucy Brown Road. It stayed in that position into the afternoon hours, as crews tried to ascertain how to remove it.
Traffic backed up in either direction as the CHP enforced one-way traffic control. The big rig was removed and all lanes of Highway 46 were reopened at 4:20 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
The CHP says only minor injuries reported in that accident. The collision is under investigation.
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