January 27th, 2011 | 
Author: NEWCASTLE, CA – Two semi trailers collided Tuesday morning, January 25, in a truck accident on a highway in Placer County, California, near the Sierra Nevada Mountains. One of the tractor trailers overturned after going off Interstate 80 just outside the town of Newcastle, CA. The truck accident area is in the north-central part of the state just north of the Sacramento metro region. Newcastle is about 414 miles north of Los Angeles, about 114 miles west of Carson City, Nevada and about 295 miles south of Merrill, Oregon.
On Tuesday morning 55 year old Sergo Sandoze of New York was driving a semi trailer through north central California. The semi driver was pulling a 55 foot long trailer at the time of the truck accident, but it is not known if he was carrying any cargo. The logo on the side of the trailer was for Unlimited Carrier, a transportation company based in Lansing, Illinois.
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It was a few minutes after 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning and Mr. Sandoze had reached Placer County, headed west on I-80. The tractor trailer had just passed the juncture with Newcastle Road when the truck accident occurred. The semi driver said he was in the right, slower lane of westbound I-80 when another vehicle suddenly moved into his path. The truck driver swerved to avoid colliding with the other vehicle and lost control of his 18 wheeler.
According to officials, Mr. Sandoze clipped a second semi truck which was parked on the shoulder of I-80. Mr. Sandoze’s semi then skidded across the traffic lane before going off the interstate. His semi tractor crossed over a secondary road running parallel to I-80 and then crashed through a chain link fence. The semi truck went over a cement water canal before driving into a farm pasture and flipping over onto its left side.
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Placer County and other local rescue workers rushed to the crash site to help any victims. The semi driver, Mr. Sandoze, was able to get out of the cab section and was not injured in the rollover truck accident.
The driver of the vehicle who reportedly cut off the semi trailer did not stop after the truck accident and their identity is not known. The driver of the second semi truck was not injured in the crash however the cab section of his truck had front-end damage from the collision. Police did not release the identification of the second truck driver.
At least one of the gas tanks on Mr. Sandoze’s truck was damaged in the crash and an unspecified amount of diesel fuel spilled out on the ground. It also appears that one of the semi tractor’s wheels came off during in the truck accident and landed in the water canal.
California Highway Patrol responded to the crash site and interviewed the driver. A team from the state’s Environmental Protection Agency was also at the truck accident site to clean-up and control the spilled diesel fuel. The crew cleaned up the leaked fuel and then drained the diesel gas remaining in the truck. Once the fuel was offloaded, a crew from Ace in the Hole Towing used a heavy wrecker to get the tandem trailer truck back on its wheels and towed from the farm pasture. The clean-up was expected to last 4 to 5 hours.
The truck accident did not cause any significant traffic delays as the crash ended off the interstate. CHP rerouted some drivers during the time the emergency vehicles were responding to the site.
Officials reconstructed the rollover crash but have not yet released their findings. Reports indicated that the semi driver, Mr. Sandoze, swerved to miss a car and hit the parked semi trailer. Investigators have not confirmed if the truck driver submitted to a toxicology screening. Mr. Sandoze could face charges in the future if he is found to be liable in the crash.
The truck accident remains under investigation.
For more information about California trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims’ rights, contact truck accident lawyers Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP for expert truck accident advice. If you or a loved one have been injured in a car or commercial vehicle in Los Angeles, find an expert car accident attorney in Los Angeles or Los Angeles truck accident lawyer to help.
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