What happens when a thick winter fog turns a busy freeway into a gray wall? On Saturday morning in California’s Central Valley, that question became very real as a chain reaction on Highway 99 near the town of Earlimart smashed 59 vehicles, injured at least ten people and shut the route in both directions for hours.
California Highway Patrol details how the pileup unfolded
The California Highway Patrol reports that separate crashes on the northbound and southbound lanes quickly snowballed when drivers, unable to see more than about 150 to 200 feet ahead in the gloom, kept arriving before they could stop safely.
Cars and tractor trailers ended up crumpled against the concrete divider, debris scattered across one of the state’s main farm and freight corridors.
Injuries reported as crews clear wreckage and reopen lanes
Officers say it is remarkable that no one was killed and that all known injuries were minor to moderate.
A mass casualty response brought additional ambulances and emergency crews to move people off the freeway while teams worked through the late morning and early afternoon to clear wreckage and reopen roughly a three-mile stretch of road.
Tule fog season and why visibility collapses so fast
The crash unfolded during tule fog season when dense ground hugging clouds settle into the San Joaquin Valley from late fall through early spring and often keep visibility under a few hundred feet.
This kind of fog has already been blamed this winter for a 17 vehicle pileup near Fresno that left one person dead and at least 20 injured, underscoring how quickly routine drives can turn into emergencies.
Fog driving safety tips for California highways
Traffic officers are again urging drivers to slow down, leave generous space, switch on low-beam headlights instead of relying on automatic settings and stay fully focused whenever fog rolls in, even if that means arriving late to work or weekend plans.
The official statement was published by CBS News Sacramento.
