300,000 Tomatoes Caused a Brutal Chain of Car Crashes

Tomatoes are the cause of a messy pile-up on a California freeway.
Written by Andrew Kidd
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Snow, ice, sleet, hail and… tomatoes?
Of the most common
accident-causing
road hazards that create a dangerously slick driving surface, tomatoes are probably the last things that come to mind. But they were the culprit in a series of vehicle accidents on one stretch of California highway.

A slippery mess

As reported by
USA TODAY
, a big rig spilled its cargo of nearly 300,000 tomatoes onto a
famous California
freeway after the truck crashed into another vehicle, creating a slippery mess that resulted in a chain of car crashes.
Authorities told the publication that a truck hauling 50,000 pounds of tomatoes on a stretch of Interstate 80 struck another vehicle, veering into another car before driving into the median. 
The impact force was enough to cause the truck to spill nearly three-quarters of its tomato cargo—over 37,000 pounds—onto the freeway, resulting in a slippery mess that officers said was like ice once it hit the asphalt.
According to the report, vehicles passing over the tomatoes ground them into a pulp, creating dangerously slick driving conditions. One vehicle stalled on the highway because of the tomatoes and was then struck by another car. Another car struck those two, followed by a third vehicle getting sideswiped.
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Seven vehicles, three injuries

In total, seven vehicles were involved in the ensuing accident, including the truck. Three people were injured in the accident, including the truck driver, and one was hospitalized with a broken leg.
Police closed the highway for several hours while tomatoes—now effectively tomato sauce—were cleared from the asphalt. The California Department of Transportation brought in a front-end loader and sweeper to help clear the tomatoes off the roadway.

What should I do if I come across tomatoes on the road?

You should probably not drive over them, as these motorists did. To be fair, reaction time during a morning commute is probably not as quick as during the evening drive home. But if you see a sheet of tomatoes (or any fruit or vegetable, for that matter) covering the roadway, you should probably slow down and proceed with caution if the area hasn't been cordoned off. As these drivers learned, proceeding normally can have mixed results.

Make sure you're prepared for the worst

You never know what's going to happen to you while you're on the road. If it's not a tomato truck causing you to crash into other cars, it could be a flash flood, a sudden blizzard, or some other dangerous force of nature that could hurt your car—and your wallet.
That's why it's important to make sure you're covered when accidents happen. But how do you make sure you're not paying too much for car insurance? By shopping around for the best rate.
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