Thirty-one vehicles were involved in 11 separate crashes. Traffic was shut down for hours until the highway was reopened a little bit before 11 a.m..
"At about 7:45 this morning there was a chain reaction of approximately 11 different vehicle collisions, from anywhere from a solo motorcyclist to several cars being involved," said CHP Sgt. Diana McDermott.
Drivers said it was the fog which reduced visibility to next to nothing that led to the pileups.
"I was able to stop maybe a good six feet from the guy in front of me. The woman behind me, she was able to stop, but the woman behind her, she came smashing in and that bumped her up into me. I was able to lift off my foot a little bit and it just kept going back and forward. There must have been about 100 cars out here," said crash victim Sonya Kelly.
Fog may have reduced visibility, but it was only a contributing factor; drivers following too close was the real problem.
"Well the rule of thumb that I remember is three second intervals; count 1000-1, 1000-2, 1000-3. Slowly, just make sure that you leave that space cushion involved," said McDermott.
