A Visalia man was severely injured in an accident at the
intersection of Airline Highway and Quien Sabe Road in Tres Pinos
Wednesday when he reportedly ran a stop sign and was struck by a
big rig.
A Visalia man was severely injured in an accident at the intersection of Airline Highway and Quien Sabe Road in Tres Pinos Wednesday when he reportedly ran a stop sign and was struck by a big rig.
Richard Ziegler, 41, was taken by Cal-Star helicopter to San Jose Medical Center where he is being treated for possible head and internal injuries, the California Highway Patrol said.
The 10:45 a.m. accident happened when Ziegler was westbound on Quien Sabe Road in a white and maroon Ford F-150 pickup truck, the CHP said.
As Ziegler approached the intersection, he reportedly failed to stop for the stop sign and rolled into the intersection, the CHP said.
Just as Ziegler’s pickup entered the intersection, a tractor-trailer rig hauling products for SYSCO Corporations, a food service company, also entered the intersection, and the two vehicles collided, the CHP said.
The force of the collision sent Ziegler’s vehicle skidding out of control northward until the bed of the pickup crashed into a nearby wooden shed on the eastern side of Airline Highway.
The International tractor suffered very minor damage to its thick, metal front bumper.
Investigators said alcohol and drugs were not a factor in the accident. Unfamiliarity with the area played a bigger role, the CHP said.
A crew of San Benito County firefighters used a pair of hydraulic prybars to open the driver’s side door of the pickup and free Ziegler, who was visibly bleeding from the head, but was conscious.
As paramedics and firefighters extricated Ziegler from his pickup, a CalStar air ambulance landed in the parking lot of Immaculate Conception Church about 100 yards away from the crash scene.
Sheriff’s deputies and a deputy marshal controlled traffic along Airline Highway to ensure the safety of the rescue crews and to give them access to the waiting helicopter on the western side of the highway.
