About 50 cars involved in Kings County fog related crashes, CHP says

KINGS COUNTY, California (KFSN) -- On a foggy Tuesday morning, dozens of motorists found themselves stranded on Highway 198 west of Hanford, after a series of crashes along a four mile stretch of the road.

The California Highway Patrol does not know for sure just how many separate crashes there were, but estimate at least 50 vehicles were involved-- including some big-rigs.

Hanford area officer John Tyler said it all started with a crash on 198 near 16th Avenue. From there, traffic came to a stop, and cars just started slamming into each other.

"A lot of these collisions involved one, two cars, three cars, vehicles veering off the road to avoid a collision. But ultimately traffic kept coming to a half and staying stopped and every couple cars, the next one would come up and they would get into another collision."

The damage was extensive, with debris littering the roadway, but fortunately, there were no serious injuries.

The CHP said fewer than 10 people were brought to local hospitals, all with minor injuries.

While the fog may have been a factor, Officer Tyler said the wreckage could have been avoided if more people would have adapted to the conditions.

"All these collisions, every single one of these collisions was caused by somebody traveling too fast for the conditions. If they just drove a little bit slower, they could have seen the car stopped ahead of them and stopped and slowly went around them as opposed to rear-ending 10 seconds."

By early afternoon, tow trucks had removed the damaged cars and Caltrans had cleared the roadway, allowing them to open it back up.

Meanwhile, the CHP directed any drivers involved to the Hanford Civic Auditorium.

After all, they have a lot of information to gather, as the lengthy investigation starts.