21-Vehicle Pileup In Santa Cruz Due To Tractor-Trailer’s Brake Failure

Northbound Highway 1 opened 3:15 p.m. Tuesday in Santa Cruz County after authorities cleared 21 crushed vehicles after a tractor-trailer’s brakes failed and the truck slammed into stopped vehicles near River Street, according to California Highway Patrol. Witnesses saw the truck’s brakes smoking before the tractor-trailer plowed into a vehicle and both caught fire — in a wreck that some authorities said is among the worst in Santa Cruz County. “The brakes were completely gone,” Sgt. Grant Boles said. “Either there was a mechanical failure with the brakes or it was an operator error.” The driver, who was injured and was not identified by authorities, was properly licensed, but the San Jose-based commercial truck had “numerous violations.”