COARSEGOLD – Highway 41 was slowed to standstill today due to a single vehicle accident at Serpa Canyon Road.
CHP were called to the scene at approximately 2:16 p.m., after a northbound Ford F-250 pulling a 5th wheel trailer swerved to avoid a vehicle that was stopped in the roadway waiting to turn left onto Serpa Canyon.
According to the CHP, the driver of the F-250 was going between 40 and 50 mph when he was forced to alter his course to avoid a collision and drove off the right-hand shoulder, sliding 10-15 feet down the bank and flipping both truck and trailer.
The three occupants of the pickup suffered minor bumps and bruises and were transported by Sierra Ambulance to an area hospital for further evaluation.
Crews from Cal Trans were on hand for clean up and four units from the CHP put traffic control in place, keeping it down to one lane as tow trucks from Bulldog and Eppler Towing and Transport pulled the truck out of the ditch and cleared the scene.
After the traffic congestion eased, the road was shut down so an Eppler crane truck could lift the battered camper onto a lowboy trailer for removal.
The roadway blocked off and on for over seven hours, and was finally reopened in both directions at 9:27 p.m.
