Staff Report • September 7, 2009
One lane of traffic is open this afternoon on westbound Interstate 80 near Mogul, as highway patrol officers clear the road after a vehicle towing a trailer rolled over, the Nevada Highway Patrol said.
At about11:55 am, troopers from the NHP were dispatched to a rollover accident that had both west bound lanes of I-80 blocked west of Reno.
The NHP said a 1996 Chevrolet Suburban SUV that was towing a 27-foot recreational trailer, both with California license plates, was traveling westbound on the freeway when the male driver experienced a problem with the trailer fishtailing or swaying side to side.
A short time later the SUV and trailer rolled over blocking both westbound travel lanes. As a result of the rollover, the trailer literally came apart spilling all of its interior contents onto the freeway.
The driver and his two female passengers were all wearing seatbelts. Only one occupant sustained a minor cut to her forehead and she was treated by medical personnel at the scene.
Troopers were able to open one lane fairly quickly; however, once the tow trucks arrived on scene both lanes were closed again for about 30 minutes to begin the recovery effort.
The accident caused westbound traffic to back up as much as 4 miles or as far back as the Keystone Avenue interchange.
One lane is currently open allowing the heavy traffic to proceed west and the entire scene isn’t expected to be cleared and both lanes re-opened until around 3 p.m., the NHP said.
