A truck heading up US-50 west lost its trailer Tuesday morning, causing the trailer to roll down the highway and into the intersection of South Carson Street and I-580 junction, slamming into an SUV. No one was injured and the incident was caught on video.
The video by Rodney Stivers, posted to social media and can be viewed by clicking here, shows the mishap. Stills of the video can be seen below. It happened at approximately 9:27 a.m. Tuesday.
According to Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Acting Lt. Chris Brown, an investigation revealed that a white GMC Sierra with the trailer traveling was westbound after leaving the junction onto US-50 when it became detached.
In the intersection and stopped on South Carson Street in the No. 1 lane turn lane was a gray Toyota 4Runner, which would be the victim vehicle.
The GMC Sierra traveled through the intersection and continued west on US-50 and during that time the trailer detached from the GMC Sierra, said Brown. The trailer rolled backward to the east, continuing to travel back into the intersection, striking the right front of the Toyota 4Runner that had been stopped at the light.
There were no injuries in the crash and the at-fault driver was cited for unsafe vehicle, said Brown.
“This is a good reminder that you have to connect a trailer properly with the correct sized hitch or ball,” said Brown. “In this case they were using the inappropriate sized ball and that is what caused this.”
The incident was an eery reminder of the Nov. 9, 2021 fiery crash at the junction where a truck towing a yacht lost its brakes, killing a Dayton couple and injuring several others.
The driver of the F-350 truck was towing the 44-foot boat heading east on US-50. The truck’s brakes failed due to the 37,000-pound boat and trailer, which NHP learned exceeded the truck’s maximum payload of 21,000 pounds.
The Florida driver, who was hired to transport the boat from Lake Tahoe to a storage facility, went through the red light, hitting a GMC Sierra pickup traveling south on South Carson Street and killing Tana Powell, 70, and Don Powell, 74, of Dayton.
As the driver’s truck separated from the boat, the boat rolled through the intersection junction, when another vehicle drove into the boat trailer, bursting into flames. The driver pled guilty to two counts each of felony reckless driving causing death and substantial bodily harm and was sentenced to prison.
