Multi-car crash snarls traffic on Highway 101 in Petaluma

A driver who was unable to stop in time on southbound Highway 101 in Petaluma Thursday morning is suspected of causing a multi-vehicle crash that left a truck overturned and damaged six others, CHP Officer Juan Leon said.

Traffic approaching the eight-car collision, reported at 7:39 a.m. on the exit lane to Petaluma’s Lakeville Street, slowed to a near stop and backed up to the Cotati Grade following the crash, Leon said.

An 11-year-old girl who was riding in the truck that overturned, a black Ford, was sent to the hospital for a small cut as a precaution. No one else reported injuries, Leon said.

The driver of a large truck that was hauling a trailer likely caused the crash when he approached a line of stopped vehicles waiting to exit the freeway but was unable to stop in time, Leon said. It was unknown how fast the driver, who was not identified by the agency as of Thursday morning, was going when he hit the Ford, Leon said.

“That causes a chain reaction,” Leon said. “He runs into a pickup truck, which overturns.”

The domino effect led to damages to three other vehicles - a black Lexus, a gray Honda Odyssey and a white Nissan Sentra - waiting to exit the freeway, Leon said. Two other cars, a Jeep Compass and a Honda CR-V, faced minor damaged after the front right tire of the truck hauling the trailer dislodged and hit the cars.

Crews cleared the crash site by about 9:12 a.m., Leon said. Traffic was slowed to 5 mph just north of the crash site about 12 minutes before, online traffic data showed.